Saleh Calls on Political Parties to Stick with GCC Plan, Dialogue

Sana'a, July 31, 2011- President Ali Abdullah Saleh called on the political forces on Sunday to stick with and implement a GCC-brokered power deal and the UN Security Council Declaration to solve the current problems in Yemen.

The call of Saleh, who is , being treated in Saudi Arabia for injuries after he survived an assassination attempt inside his palace in June, came in his speech to the nation on the month of fasting Ramadan.

Saleh backed out of signing the GCC West-backed plan that called for his ouster three times at the last minutes, the latest after his party and the opposition inked it in May.

"There is no alternative for a dialogue based on the national principles and constitution to achieve comprehensive reforms and lift our country out of its crises," he was qouted as saying by Saba.

Furthermore, Saleh urged all the Yemeni parties to seize the opportunity in Ramadan to start a constructive dialogue, saying violence is never a good way of change.

"I call on all parties to avoid violence and destruction whatever the reasons for these are. Violence reuslts only in violence, political disputes and wars, and at the end the people are the only victims," he said.

Reaching power should not be through inciting chaos, road closures, hampering the interests of the public and increasing their suffering through depriving them from basic services such as fuel, electricity and water, he was qouted as saying.

Praising the efforts of his deputy, Hadi, in solving the Yemeni problems and holding dialogue with the political forces, Saleh who has recently undergone a ninth surgery for burns in his body, urged the Yemeni political forces to put the country's interest above anything else.