The Yemeni opposition called on the United Nations on Thursday to force President Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down unconditionally, rejecting his request for international guarantees. The opposition Common Forum dismissed as a sham Saleh’s announcement on Wednesday that he was ready to sign a Gulf-brokered deal for him to quit office, in return for a promise of immunity from prosecution, if it was backed up by European and US guarantees. “It is clear he absolutely refuses to resign and hand power to his vice president,” Mohammed Qahtan, the spokesman for the opposition coalition Common Forum said. “Unfortunately, his statements are in effect a declaration of war,” he added. Thousands of pro-democracy activists who have for months been camped out at their base in Sanaa’s Change Square also rejected Saleh’s request for guarantees.
“No immunity, no guarantees, Saleh and his aides will be judged,” chanted thousands of demonstrators as they marched Thursday in the capital. Thousands of Saleh supporters also marched in the capital but were intercepted by government troops, who managed to prevent a confrontation between the two groups, witnesses said. Thursday’s protests, in contrast to recent days and weeks of violent government crackdowns, ended peacefully. Since calls for an end to Saleh’s 33-year rule erupted in January, the president has made repeated pledges to sign the deal brokered by his impoverished nation’s wealthy Gulf neighbours, only to backtrack.
Saleh’s latest statement was yet another diversion, Qahtan said, noting that the Gulf Cooperation Council plan already included both an immunity clause for Saleh and his family, and a timetable for the transfer of power. In a sign Washington is losing patience with Saleh’s stalling tactics, a State Department spokesman said Wednesday more guarantees were unnecessary, and urged Saleh to sign the GCC initiative “without further delay.” Qahtan said the time had come for decisive UN action. “We call on the UN to adopt a binding resolution that demands Saleh’s resignation and clearly supports the revolutionaries and the armies that support them,” Qahtan said. In the coming days, the UN Security Council is expected to vote on a resolution condemning the escalating violence between the protesters and Saleh’s loyalists.
But the resolution will not threaten sanctions or explicitly call on Saleh to step down, according to a text of the draft. At least 23 civilian demonstrators and two dissident soldiers have been killed since Saturday as Saleh’s opponents have repeatedly attempted to march on loyalist-held parts of the capital in a bid to bring the nine-month-old protests to a head.
Yemen opposition says Saleh guarantee request a sham
