The Wall Street Journal is reporting Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh has reportedly backed away from a deal struck over the weekend that would have him step down from power immediately but keep his relatives in charge of the country’s elite counterterrorism forces. During an interview with Al Arabiya, Saleh warned Yemen would end up in a destructive civil war if he left office. On Sunday, U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said the potential fall of Saleh is a “real concern.”

Defense Secretary Robert Gates: “I think it is a real concern, because the most active, and at this point perhaps the most aggressive branch of al-Qaeda, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, operates out of Yemen. And we have had a lot of counterterrorism cooperation from President Saleh and Yemeni security services.”