Saturday, April 23, 2011

Saleh to step down?

President Ali Abdullah Saleh of Yemen has reportedly agreed to step down in 30 days as part of an agreement brokered by Gulf nations, a presidential aide was quoted as saying in The Wall Street Journal.

The aide, Tariq Shami, was quoted as saying, "Though President Saleh has constitutional rights to stay in power, he is willing to leave office willingly."
According to the report, Mr. Saleh will relinquish power after 30 days in exchange for immunity from prosecution for himself and close relatives and aides.

The opposition has yet to react to this offer.
If the offer is accepted, this would end the president’s 32-year-rule which has been marred by nearly three months of violent protests nationwide.

Although Mr. Saleh remained defiant in speeches on Friday, vowing to complete his term until 2013, backdoor diplomacy by Gulf states--worried at the possible gains made by Al-Qaeda network in Yemen--was able to convince Mr. Saleh that he would be accorded a dignified exit, reported the paper’s website.

Analysts will now eagerly await the opposition’s reaction to this deal as various groups are divided on the controversial clause of the president and his aides receiving any form of immunity from prosecution. While some have agreed to President Saleh handing over power to the vice-president in 30 days and his son and nephew, who hold key positions in the military and national security, handing over their posts within 60 days, it is the youth movement that remains adamant in their stance.

"We the youth of revolution reject any proposal that does not hold Saleh accountable for the killing of more than 140 revolutionary protesters during the street demonstrations this year,” said a statement released by the students' organizing committee.

Members of opposition groups understand they need students’ support.

“This is a major issue to them and the opposition will not accept any proposal until it reaches grounds of understanding with the youth protesters," Mohammed Qahtan spokesperson for the opposition Joint Meeting Parties, the umbrella group of opposition political parties told the Wall Street Journal.

Earlier in the day on Saturday, Yemenis boarded up their shops and businesses across the country in protest against the president’s rule.

According to a Reuters witness, up to 90 percent of shops, markets and schools were closed in the southern port city of Aden. There were few pedestrians in the streets and hardly any traffic.

Many businesses were also closed for the day in Taiz, Yemen’s third largest city and an epicenter of opposition to the 69-year-old-president, and Hodeida on the Red Sea.
Yemenis flooded the streets of Sana’a and Taiz on Friday in rival demonstrations for and against Mr. Saleh, who offered guarded approval to a Gulf Arab plan for a three-month transition of power.

The proposal of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) calls for Mr. Saleh to hand power to his vice president, Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi, one month after signing an agreement.

He would appoint an opposition leader to lead an interim cabinet charged with preparing presidential elections two months later, a Yemeni official said on Friday.

The plan, presented on Thursday, also gives immunity from prosecution to Mr. Saleh, his family and aides—anathema to his foes, who would also have to end protests under the proposal.

“We stress that we will hold on to the constitutional legitimacy, in loyalty to our people, as we categorically reject the attempted coups on freedom, democracy, and political pluralism,” Mr. Saleh told regime supporters in Sana’a.

In a cool reaction to a Gulf plan for him to step down within 30 days, Mr. Saleh said he welcomed the initiative but only “within the framework of the constitution,” signaling he could try to serve out his term until 2013.

As on past Fridays, a huge rival rally by anti-regime protesters kept up the pressure for Mr. Saleh’s immediate departure on what they branded a “Last Chance Friday.”

A correspondent of Agence-France Presse said the gathering covered a four-kilometer stretch, in what appeared to be the largest anti-Saleh rally since protests erupted in late January.

Yemeni army and police were deployed in force to prevent clashes between the two camps.

Parliamentary opposition groups are still studying the GCC plan, but the spokesman of the Common Forum coalition said that “forming a national unity government while the president is still in office is not accepted.”

“The president’s departure is essential to any solution,” he told AFP.

Many protesters on the streets on Friday dismissed the proposal out of hand.

“Neighboring countries: no negotiations, no dialogue,” read posters carried by demonstrators.

Mr. Saleh has since January faced anti-regime protests calling for his ouster in which more than 130 people have been killed in clashes with security forces and rival demonstrators.

Meanwhile al-Qaeda militants and tribesmen gunned down 13 soldiers in separate attacks in the eastern Marib province.

Another soldier was shot dead by unknown gunmen in the restive southern province of Abyan.

Mr. Saleh’s long-time Gulf and Western allies, concerned that the chaos in Yemen will open more opportunities for ambitious al-Qaeda militants, are trying to broker an orderly transition to the president’s 32-year rule.

(Muna Khan of Al Arabiya

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