Yemen political crisis:
Saleh resists stand down calls
YEMEN: President Ali Abdullah Saleh said Wednesday he would
"resist" calls to resign and abide by the constitution in any transfer
of power, Yemen's state news agency Saba reported.
Yemen's opposition, meanwhile, called for mass protests following
another round of deadly clashes with police, as talks appeared to have
stalled between Gulf mediators and Saleh's envoys.
"We will continue to resist, undaunted and committed to
constitutional legitimacy, while rejecting the plots and coups," Saba
quoted the embattled president as saying.
Addressing a women's group in Sanaa, Saleh reiterated he would
relinquish power only through elections.
"Let those who want to attain power rely on the ballot box. Change
can only come about through elections and within the framework of
constitutional legitimacy," said Saleh, whose term runs until 2013.
Saleh's statement comes after members of the UN Security Council
failed to come up with a joint statement on Yemen after adding the
country's crisis to their agenda for the first time.
Youth groups called for nationwide marches by millions of people in
protest at the killing of protesters on Tuesday, stressing their
rejection of any deal that excludes Saleh's immediate departure.
Confrontations raged on between security forces and anti-Saleh
protesters, with medics and witnesses reporting that eight people were
shot dead since Tuesday, including a passer-by and a policeman.
One protester was killed when a gunman on a motorbike opened fire
early on Wednesday at demonstrators staging a sit-in at Al-Nasr Square
in the western Red Sea city of Hudaydah.
The assailant managed to escape after also wounding about eight other
protesters, most of whom had been asleep.
Also on Wednesday, a policeman was shot dead during clashes between
police and protesters in the main southern port city of Aden, while five
demonstrators were shot dead in the capital Sanaa on Tuesday.
Foreign Ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) held talks on
Tuesday with representatives of Saleh's regime as part of efforts to
hammer out a deal under which the veteran president would step down.
But the meeting in Abu Dhabi appeared to have made no significant
progress.
A brief, vague statement issued afterwards referred to the talks as
"constructive," vowing to "exert more effort to preserve security,
stability and the unity of the Yemeni state." Sanaa, Thursday, AFP |