Yemen Saleh insists to stay home

By Fatik al-Rodaini

SANA'A, May 20, 2012- Close sources from Yemen ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh denied his accept to live in Russia for two years to allow the transition process to resume unhindered.

Gulf newspaper said that ex-president insists to continue playing his current role as the head of General People's Congress, refusing at the same time any call to leave the country abroad.

The newspaper reported that Saleh did not receive any offer from Russia to live there for two years.

"Ex-president support his successor decisions which targets to hold a national dialogue conference, and to restructure the army," the newspaper said.

On Saturday foreign diplomats close to the Yemeni power-transfer process said deposed President Ali Abdullah Saleh had agreed to leave the country for good.

U.S.-based Yemeni politician and rights activist Muneer Moari told the Forum for Change, an online news site, that Saleh had informed U.N. officials he would depart from Yemen and allow the transition process to resume unhindered.

The move came after foreign powers in support of the Gulf Cooperation Council brokered power-transfer agreement signed by Saleh in November 2011 expressed concerns over the former regime resistance to change.

An executive order signed by U.S. President Barak Obama on Wednesday for a freeze in assets of any element road blocking the implementation of the power-transfer convinced Saleh to go, Moari told the Forum for Change.