Yemen ready to ink Gulf deal

Gulf-brokered power transfer plan, as pressure mounted on him to quit amid raging violence.
“Yemen is ready to finish the signing of the Gulf initiative which was signed by the General People’s Congress,” a government spokesman told state news agency Saba.

Saleh has baulked the signing of a Gulf-sponsored deal under which he will leave office within 30 days in return for a promise of immunity from prosecution.
“The date for the signing will be set soon based on consultations and coordination between the Yemen and the Gulf Cooperation Council states,” Saba said, quoting the unnamed government official. The spokesman blamed violence ravaging the streets of the capital Sanaa as unrelated to the country’s political crisis but said it came after “outlawed armed elements resorted to violence and chaos.”

Deadly battles between opposition tribesmen and Saleh’s troops have rocked Sanaa leaving more than 60 people dead since Tuesday.
Saleh has warned of a civil war as he refused to sign the plan aimed at ending bloodshed in the deeply tribal country. Opposition spokesman Mohammed Qahtan said on Tuesday that attempts by Gulf monarchies to mediate in Yemen’s crisis are “over.”

“This agreement is terminated,” Qahtan told AFP 10 days after Saleh refused to sign the agreement proposed by the Gulf monarchies, despite it having being signed by his own party and the opposition. -AFP.