In a sharp about-face of policy, the Obama administration is backing away from President Ali Abdullah Saleh of Yemen, America’s long-time ally in the war against terror. The administration had fully supported Saleh until news leaked out this weekend, confirmed on Monday, that the administration was calling for Saleh to step down, according to AFP.

The White House is hoping that Saleh’s replacement will continue to work with the U.S. in fighting al-Qaeda. Al-Qaeda on the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) is headquartered in Yemen, and is training militants for terrorist acts in Europe and North America.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said the following:

“We are obviously concerned that in this period of political unrest that Al-Qaeda and other groups will attempt to take advantage of that power vacuum.

That is one of the reasons why we urge political dialogue to take place and a timetable for this transition that President Saleh has talked about to be begun.

We believe we can and will work with the government of Yemen on these important matters. We are not focused on one individual.”

The change in policy comes when the bloodbath in Yemen has substantially worsened in the last few days. Tens of thousands of protesters have been demanding for weeks that Saleh step down. Since the start of the protests, gangs of Saleh supporters had attacked unarmed demonstrators with truncheons, sticks and guns. Over the weekend, security forces used round after round live fire, killing at least 12 protesters and injuring hundreds, according to the Yemen Post.

It’s far from clear that Yemen’s government will continue to exist if Saleh steps down. Saleh’s great strength is in manipulating and holding together the powerful tribal confederations, and tribal conflict may follow his departure. Other critical events:

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