Embattled Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh urged to make exit deal

West insists president quits in exchange for immunity from prosecution and financial guarantees about future The United States and Britain are pressing Saudi Arabia to persuade the Yemeni president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, to formally stand down after flying to Riyadh for treatment for injuries that were sustained in shelling in Sana’a on Friday. Diplomats said that Washington and London were insisting Saleh now be urged to implement a deal under which he would relinquish power in exchange for immunity from prosecution and financial guarantees about his future. Pro-democracy protestors in Yemen were celebrating his departure after 33 years in power, but the Arab world’s poorest country still faces turmoil as well as immediate concerns over whether a truce will hold if Saleh tries to return and his relatives and supporters fight back. The risks ahead were underlined by clashes in the southern city of Taiz, which left at least two dead and four injured. Shelling was also reported in Sana’a. Saleh was described as recovering following emergency medical treatment in a Riyadh military hospital because he was injured by shrapnel when his palace compound was attacked by tribal rivals. Yemen’s ruling party, the General People’s Congress, insisted he would be back, but diplomats and analysts expressed doubt, suggesting that Saudi patience with an always fractious and often manipulative neighbour was exhausted. It would be impossible for Saleh to return, argued Abdul Ghani Iryani, a respected Yemeni political commentator. “He is out. That is the only rational course. The exit of the president has defused some of the tensions and war is less likely today than it was yesterday.” If Saleh is finished, he will come to be seen as the latest scalp of the “Arab spring” – which since January has seen the overthrow of the presidents of Tunisia and Egypt, repression in Bahrain and anti-regime unrest in Libya and Syria. Popular demonstrations in Sana’a made a huge impact but the immediate trigger for Saleh’s ouster was old-fashioned military action – not Facebook protest. Yemen, a desperately poor and volatile country of 23 million people, faces a complex series of problems including secessionist movements in the north and south, inter-elite and tribal rivalries and a small but menacing al-Qaida presence that has focused US and western attention and brought generous aid in recent years. Saleh has been formally replaced by his deputy, Abed-Rabbo Mansour Hadi but the constitution allows for the creation of a military council to oversee government business. Diplomats said a key question was the reaction of Saleh’s son Ahmed, commander of the powerful Republican Guard, and his nephews Yayha and Amar, who control other key elements of the security forces. Saleh’s brother commands the Yemeni air force. Al-Arabiya TV reported that Hadi had already met the US ambassador to Yemen Michael Feierstein and was also due to see members of the military and Saleh’s sons. The Saudi-owned channel also described Ahmed Saleh as running the country in his father’s absence in Riyadh. Reinforcing the point, the official Yemeni news agency Saba issued a statement saying that Saleh’s family had not accompanied him to Saudi Arabia – which was seen as a clear warning that his sons would remain in place. Amidst the jubilation in Sana’a, one good sign was the agreement of the al-Ahmar family, leaders of the Hashid tribal federation that has been fighting Saleh, to abide by a truce aimed at stopping the street fighting in the capital. Saleh blamed the al-Ahmars for the attack on his palace on Friday and ordered government forces to retaliate with an artillery barrage against their homes in the Sana’a neighbourhood of Hasaba. The Hashid announced their support for the protest movement in March, and al-Ahmar fighters initially adhered to the movement’s non-violence policy. Saleh’s departure was foreseen in the accord brokered by the six-nation Saudi led Gulf Co-operation Council. It provided a timetable for the president to leave office and to clear the way for new elections within 60 days. He declined to sign the agreement, despite several attempts by Gulf leaders to end to the crisis. Now in Saudi Arabia – and perhaps under pressure from his hosts – he may no longer be able to renege on it. “Saleh may be determined to brazen it out but he will find it hard to resist for very long,” predicted one western diplomat. William Hague, Britain’s foreign secretary, said he was “very worried” about the situation in Yemen, admitting that previous efforts to persuade Saleh to step down had failed. “We have not succeeded in that but we will continue working very hard on that,” he said on the BBC’s Andrew Marr show. “It could become a much more serious threat to our own security.” Hundreds of British citizens have been urged to leave the country while Sana’a airport is still open. “People are worried about what will happen after Saleh’s departure,” Farouq Abdel Salam, a resident of the southern port city of Aden, told Reuters. “They’re most worried about a military coup or struggles for power within the army.” Saleh has ruled Yemen since unification in 1990. Yemen Saudi Arabia Arab and Middle East unrest Middle East Ian Black guardian.co.uk

Posted by on June 5, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.