( CNN ) -- A deal designed to end months of anti-government protests in Yemen suffered a setback Sunday when embattled President Ali Abdullah Saleh rejected the opposition signature , officials said Sunday . Saleh , who was due to sign the deal Sunday , refused to recognize the opposition signature on it from the day before . `` President Saleh invited the JMP ( opposition alliance ) to sign the ... proposal at the presidential palace at 3 p.m. today . We hope the JMP accepts President Saleh 's invitation , '' said Tareq Shami , a spokesman for Yemen 's ruling party , the General People 's Congress ( GPC ) . He insisted that the demand is not a complication , but rather common sense . `` Any agreement should never take place in closed-door meetings . This is commonly known and Saleh does not want to start the transition period in such a way , '' Shami said . Opposition officials rejected Saleh 's proposal . `` This is Saleh . His words are never trusted . No agreement is respected by him , '' said Mohammed Qahtan , a spokesman for the JMP . Yemen , a key al Qaeda battleground and U.S. ally , has been roiled by protests for most of the year amid the background of anti-government demonstrations across much of the Arab world .
President Ali Abdullah Saleh wants the opposition to sign the agreement at the palace . They refuse , saying he is not to be trusted . Yemen , a key al Qaeda battleground , is a U.S. ally .