Abdu al Guindy warned against umbrella council

Fri, 12 August 2011

Cairo/Sanaa — Yemeni Deputy Information Minister Abdu al Guindy warned yesterday against a plan by Yemen’s opposition to establish an umbrella council aimed at taking over power in the country.

“This council will either be born dead as happened before or will be a call for war,” he was quoted by the state Yemeni news agency as telling a press conference in the Yemeni capital Sanaa.

The opposition coalition the Common Forum has set August 17 for meeting to elect an umbrella “National Council” that it says will “lead the revolution forces to move ahead to fulfil Yemeni people’s aspirations.” “The parties that will form this council will cast themselves as the supreme power replacing the people. This is a serious move,” added Al Guindy.

Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh is staying in Saudi Arabia after being discharged from a military hospital where he received medical treatment for injuries he suffered in an attack on his palace in Sanaa in early June.

Millions of Yemenis have been taking to the streets since February demanding Saleh’s ouster. Al Guindy said that a plan proposed by the Gulf Co-operation Council for power transfer in Yemen was still valid. “President Saleh is not against the Gulf initiative. He is keen on reaching an agreement on mechanisms for its implementation,” he added.

Meanwhile, four suspected Al Qaeda members have been killed by army fire outside the southern Yemeni city of Zinjibar, most of which has fallen under the control of fighters, a local official said yesterday. — dpa/AFP