Yemen president’s supporters trap diplomats in embassy

British ambassador among those penned into United Arab Emirates embassy by mob loyal to President Ali Abdullah Saleh Western and Arab diplomats, including the British ambassador to Yemen, were trapped inside an embassy in Sana’a for several hours on Sunday by a mob loyal to the president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, who refused to sign a deal arranging for him to leave office in return for legal immunity. The US and some Arab envoys were reported to have been ferried by Yemeni army helicopters from the United Arab Emirates embassy to the presidential palace where members of Saleh’s ruling party, but not Saleh, signed the deal. The president, who earlier rejected the deal as a “coup”, had declared he would only sign in the presence of opposition leaders. According to Foreign Office sources, the British ambassador, Jonathan Wilks, remained in the UAE embassy “to wait until it was safer to leave”. Saleh has backed out of signing a political settlement, brokered by the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC), on two previous occasions. Even if he does sign and hand power to his vice-president, it is not clear whether the agreement will satisfy opposition activists who demand Saleh’s immediate departure and the complete dismantling of his regime. Opposition leaders signed the deal on Saturday, but pro-democracy protesters massed in central Sana’a to reject it. They held Yemeni flags and banners that read: “Now, now Ali, down with the president!” and “Go out Ali!” Meanwhile pro-Saleh demonstrators erected a tent in Sana’a, blocking a main street, and flew banners appealing to the president: “Don’t go, don’t sign.” The group of diplomatic observers, which also included envoys from the EU, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the UAE, had gathered at the UAE embassy compound intending to drive to the palace for the signing. Instead they found themselves unable to leave when a pro-Saleh crowd gathered outside, apparently determined to stop them reaching their destination. CNN reported that several dozen protesters were armed with machine guns, and many more had pistols. The Foreign Office said the route from the UAE compound to the palace had been “blocked by tribesmen and efforts are being made to clear the road”. Earlier in the day, armed men attacked a convoy of the GCC’s secretary general, Abdullatif bin Rashid al-Zayani, in a bid to stop him reaching the UAE embassy. Pounding the car, they shouted against Gulf intervention in Yemeni affairs. The motorcade of the Chinese ambassador was also attacked before a police detail was sent to disperse the crowd. Under the GCC agreement, the opposition and elements of the Saleh regime would form a national unity government within a week, parliament would pass a law guaranteeing him immunity from prosecution for acts while in office, and, 30 days after signing, Saleh would hand over to a deputy after 33 years in power. In his speech on the Arab world on Thursday, President Obama said Saleh needed to “follow through on his commitment to transfer power”. There are concerns that if the deal is not signed soon, clashes could break out between military units that have defected from Saleh since the protests first erupted and those that have stayed loyal. Yemen Middle East Arab and Middle East unrest Julian Borger guardian.co.uk

Posted by on May 22, 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.