President Ali Abdullah Saleh has decided to gradually reduce his consumption of the narcotic Qat leaf after having medical tests in Germany, according to local press reports on Friday.

Governmental sources also mentioned that Saleh would also stop attending the maqil, or circle of friends devoted to chewing qat, in favour of "meeting the people and personalities from the political and cultural worlds to hear their opinions on questions of national interest."

Saleh returned to Yemen on December 15 from Germany where he underwent medical tests.

In 1999 he launched a campaign to stop civil servants, military and police from chewing the evergreen leaf.

Qat contains cathin and cathinone, two chemical substances similar in effect to amphetamines, raising blood pressure and body temperature, as well as releasing adrenalin.

In Yemen, considered one of the world's poorest countries with an average monthly salary of 120 dollars, both men and women chew the narcotic leaves.

Reports vary in the number of Qat chewers in Yemen, where the highest estimates over 10 million chew Qat in Yemen, while other reports put the number down to three million.