Yemeni president refuses to sign power transition deal

Yemeni president refuses to sign power transition deal

2011-05-22 23:53:33 GMT+7 (ICT)

SANAA, YEMEN (BNO NEWS) -- Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh on Sunday refused to sign a power transfer deal brokered by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) for the third time, the Yemen Post reported.

According to sources, Saleh sent his final word to visiting GCC Secretary General Abdul Latif Al-Zayani, who has been besieged along with foreign diplomats by Saleh's supporters at the United Arab Emirates embassy in the capital since early today.

The opposition signed the deal on Saturday to end the country's political crisis and refused to attend the signing ceremony. Earlier, the ruling party spokesman said Saleh agreed to sign the deal if the opposition and Arab and Western envoys would attend his signature inside the presidential palace.

The GCC-proposed plan calls for Saleh's resignation within 30 days from the acceptance date and guarantees that he will not be prosecuted. It also contemplates holding presidential elections within two months from the date of Saleh's departure as well as the establishment of a new government within 90 days.

Meanwhile, thousands of regime supporters armed with guns and batons took to the streets of the capital to protest the GCC deal, closing main roads and forcing shops to close. They besieged the compound of the UAE embassy preventing the GCC Secretary General Abdul Latif Al-Zayani and Western envoys from leaving.

Earlier on Saturday, Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh said that al-Qaida could take over many governorates in Yemen, if he leaves. The president said he wanted to deliver the message to the United States and the European Union so that they would realize that "what is coming is worse than what is occurring now".

Saleh also blamed the opposition "Joint Meeting Parties" for the killing of at least 154 soldiers, who are now considered "martyrs of the country." He also said some 145 innocent people have been killed and 3318 wounded due to the protests.

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