YEMEN: GCC attempts to revive agreement as Saleh stalls

May 14, 2011

The Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council, Abdullatif Zayani, was scheduled to arrive in the Yemeni capital of Sana on Saturday for a three-day visit to try to resurrect a deal that would allow longtime President Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down with immunity.

The GCC includes six oil-rich countries on the Arabian peninsula who have a vested interest in restoring political stability in Yemen, although Qatar withdrew support for the deal earlier this week as Saleh's troops clashed with protests.

In remarks published in the Saudi Okaz daily newspaper on Saturday, Saleh said that after any transfer of power he plans to go out on the streets as the opposition and, “bring down the government again.”

He said the GCC deal still needed further negotiation.

“There are some clauses in it that are obscure and ambiguous, requiring better clarification through direct talks with the Yemeni groups … in order to reach an agreement on the implementation time frame that will follow,” Saleh was quoted as saying.

Saleh's troops reportedly confronted protesters again Saturday in the southern city of Taiz, leaving at least six soldiers dead, one wounded and 35 protesters injured, bringing the death toll since the conflict began to more than 170, according to news wire reports.

Plain-clothed men fire on Yemen protesters, wound 15

SANAA (Reuters) May 14, 2011 - Plain-clothed gunmen opened fire on protesters in Yemen's southern city of Taiz on Saturday, wounding at least 15 people, witnesses said, and a Gulf envoy was due to arrive to help revive a plan to end the crisis.

Protesters have been demonstrating across Yemen for months to try to oust President Ali Abdullah Saleh in an uprising inspired by movements that toppled the leaders of Egypt and Tunisia. A plan negotiated by neighboring Gulf states for Saleh to step down fell through last month when Saleh refused to sign.

The plain-clothed men fired from rooftops in the restive city on protesters who demanded Saleh end more than three decades of rule in the Arab world's poorest country.

Three people were killed and 15 wounded on Friday when troops shot at protesters in Ibb, a city south of the capital Sanaa. The latest killings pushed the overall death toll since protests began to at least 170.

Security forces on Saturday arrested Ahmed al Musaibli, a leading broadcaster who had left state television to work for an opposition satellite channel, witnesses said.

Saleh, a wily political survivor, has clung to power despite defections from politicians, army officers and tribal leaders.

The Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council, Abdullatif al-Zayani, was due to arrive in Sanaa on Saturday for a three-day visit to try to resurrect the power-transfer deal, which the GCC brokered between Saleh and opposition leaders.

The GCC includes oil-rich neighbors on the Arabian Peninsula who share a stake in stability in Yemen, where the regional wing of al Qaeda is based.

In the central town of Rada, gunmen shot dead six soldiers and wounded seven in an attack on a checkpoint on Friday, a local official said, blaming al Qaeda.

Yemen also faces violence from separatists in its south, a tenuous peace with Shi'ite rebels in its north and insecurity resulting from tribalism and poverty.

In remarks published in the Saudi Okaz daily newspaper on Saturday, Saleh said that after any transfer of power he plans to go out on the streets as the opposition and "bring down the government again."

He said the deal which would see him leave office still needed further negotiation.

"There are some clauses in it that are obscure and ambiguous, requiring better clarification through direct talks with the Yemeni groups... in order to reach an agreement on the implementation timeframe that will follow," he was quoted as saying.

Yemen's Saleh warns protesters of response

SANAA, Yemen, May 14 (UPI) -- Yemen's embattled President Ali Abdullah Saleh has issued a warning to the protesters who have been calling for his ouster, state media said.
Speaking to thousands of supporters in Sanaa after Friday prayers, Saleh indicated he wasn't going to step down and protesters should be aware of the consequences of demonstrations, The New York Times said.
"What we built in 22 years, you spoiled in three months," he said. "The military is obliged to protect its institutions with all its might."
Regardless, tens of thousands of protesters swarmed other parts of the city and elsewhere in the country.
A doctor in the city of Ibb, south of the capital, told the Times by telephone the military had opened fire on protesters and killed three of them.
Another doctor in Taiz said two demonstrators had been wounded by military gunfire.
A plan devised by the Gulf Cooperation Council that would allow Saleh to step down in exchange for immunity from prosecution wasn't largely welcomed by protesters, who said they were leery of any promise made by Saleh, the Times said.
The council is composed of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates, although Qatar announced it was leaving the talks Thursday "because of procrastination," the report said.