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Yemen's president Ali Abdullah Saleh has again backed out of a deal to hand over power to a unity government made up of his vice-president and opposition leaders.

It is the third time Mr Saleh has refused to sign an agreement to hand over power, which would allow democratic elections to be held within a few months.

It is understood five members of the ruling party signed the deal but Mr Saleh pulled out at the last minute, demanding new conditions and warning the agreement could push Yemen towards civil war.

Mr Saleh has previously said Al Qaeda militants could fill a political and security vacuum if he is forced out and, in a televised speech on Sunday, blamed the opposition for the deal's collapse.

The plan would have given him immunity from prosecution after 32 years in power.

"If (Yemen) is engulfed in a civil war, they will be responsible for it and the bloodshed," Mr Saleh said.

The deal would have made Mr Saleh the third long-entrenched leader ousted by popular protests buffeting the Arab world since January.

The US and Saudi Arabia, both targets of foiled attacks by Al Qaeda's Yemen-based regional wing, are keen to end the Yemeni stalemate to avert a spread of anarchy that could give the global militant network more room to thrive.

The failure of intense diplomatic efforts to secure a deal came after armed Yemeni government loyalists trapped Western and Gulf ambassadors - serving as mediators in the crisis - for hours in an embassy in Sanaa before they left by helicopter.

"It failed," a diplomat said after the deal fell through at the last minute, for the third time. Diplomats said five members of the ruling party signed the deal, but Mr Saleh refused, demanding additional conditions.

The Gulf Cooperation Council bloc of Yemen's wealthy oil-exporting neighbours that spearheaded the deal may withdraw its initiative as a result, a Gulf diplomat said.

The deal would have given Mr Saleh immunity from prosecution, ensuring a dignified exit after nearly 33 years at the helm of the Arabian Peninsula state, located on a shipping lane through which three million barrels of oil pass every day.

"Saleh is not serious about getting out of power and this is part of his strategy to remain in charge," Dubai-based security analyst Theodore Karasik said, adding that the 69-year-old ruler was no longer seen as a trusted partner.

"He might be able to hang on, but the pressure from outside is going to be so intense now that it could be his days are numbered," he added.

More than 170 Yemeni protesters have been killed in a crackdown on demonstrations, part of the wave of pro-democracy uprisings across North Africa and the Middle East that swept aside the leaders of Tunisia and Egypt.