Yemeni president will not quit

Yemeni president will not quit

2011-03-27 04:28:48 GMT+7 (ICT)

SANAA (BNO NEWS) -- A presidential source denied on Saturday media reports that Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh will step down, the state-run Saba news agency reported.

Earlier today, Reuters reported that Foreign Minister Abu Bakr al-Qirbi had said that a deal to transfer power peacefully in the country could emerge today.

"My statement to Reuters was reported partly and inaccurately," al-Qirbi told Saba.

"I have said, in an interview with Reuters, that I pin hopes to reach an agreement on a transfer of power today before tomorrow based on the five points the Joint Meeting Parties (JMPs) have previously offered which President Ali Abdullah Saleh approved," the caretaker Foreign Minister added.

The presidential source also said that President Saleh has always asserted that the transfer of power must be via dialogue in the light of his initiative delivered at the General National Conference, in addition to the five conditions presented by the opposition Joint Meeting Parties.

President Saleh, who has ruled the country for 32 years, has pledged not to seek his reelection in 2013 or hand over power to his son.

On Tuesday, Saleh said the nation had been in a crisis for more than two years and blamed the unrest on a foreign agenda. He said some hostile media outlets exaggerated about the situation in Yemen and played a major role in influencing people and security officers to hurt Yemen's stability.

On Sunday, he fired his government and then designated it as caretaker until a new government is formed. The announcement came after 52 protesters were killed by security forces last Friday.

Yemeni protesters have been demanding the resignation of Saleh for the past two months. The demonstrations were initially inspired by the Tunisian revolt, but they gathered momentum with the success of Egypt's revolution.

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