GCC envoy dispatched to Yemen

Gulf Arab states trying to mediate a transition of power in Yemen will send the foreign minister of the United Arab Emirates to Sana’a within the next few days, as President Ali Abdullah Saleh continued to insist that a power transfer should be done through elections.

Bloodshed continued with at least four more deaths of anti-government protesters reported, according to Reuters.

President Saleh accused opponents of instigating “conspiracies or coups” and said he would not accept either, his latest iteration of defiance in the face of massive public protests.

Yemen’s Western and Gulf Arab allies have sought in vain so far to negotiate an orderly transition of power from Mr. Saleh, but opposition patience has been fading with more violence flaring.

“Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed is coming to Sana’a in the coming days to convey the Gulf view after listening to the points of view of the government and the opposition,” a government official told Reuters, referring to the UAE foreign minister.

Yemen’s allies, which long backed President Saleh as a bulwark against an active Yemen-based al-Qaeda arm, fear escalating clashes would cause chaos that could benefit the global militant group.

Mr. Saleh has warned of civil war and the break-up of the Arabian Peninsula country of 24.3 million people, if he is forced out.

President Saleh, 65, who has been in power since 1978, said a power transfer in his country should happen through elections, the state-run Saba news agency reported.

“Change should be made through the ballot boxes and be based on constitutional legitimacy,” Saba cited Mr. Saleh as saying during a meeting with tens of thousands of his supporters.

Gulf and European foreign ministers meeting in Abu Dhabi said they were deeply concerned over the situation in Yemen and urged various sides to reach a deal through dialogue.

“The current impasse between the various parties might decline quickly into more serious confrontation and conflict,” the ministers said in a statement.

President Saleh has vowed not to seek re-election when his term ends in 2013 and has said he is willing to transfer power to “safe hands,” but protesters are demanding that he should leave now.

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which comprises Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and Oman, has been holding internal consultations on the crisis. It said Gulf leaders had now heard the views of both Yemen’s opposition and the government after separate talks.

“Now in the GCC we’re doing internal consultations to discuss the next step, and over the next hours you will hear about the next step by the Gulf States,” UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah told a news conference in Abu Dhabi, without giving details.

In the latest violence, a gunman on a motorcycle fired on an anti-government protest camp in the Red Sea town of al-Hudayda, killing a man guarding the protesters, witnesses said, according to Agence-France Presse.

In the southern port city of Aden, gunmen shot dead a soldier at a protest that drew hundreds of people. Sporadic gunfire was reported throughout the city all day.

More than 123 protesters have been killed in clashes with security forces since activists took to the streets in January.

Western countries and Arab neighbors fear a prolonged standoff could cause clashes between rival military units in Sana’a and elsewhere in the mountainous country where Mr. Saleh has already lost control of several provinces.

(Abeer Tayel of Al Arabiya