Yemeni Leader’s Allies Blockade Embassy as He Refuses Peace Deal
By ROBERT F. WORTH
Published: May 22, 2011
==============================================
WASHINGTON — Yemen’s political crisis deepened on Sunday as President Ali Abdullah
Saleh once again and at the last minute scuttled an agreement that he step down, and hundreds of his armed supporters blockaded an embassy, trapping American, European and Arab diplomats for hours.
Yemen State TV, via Associated Press
Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh stood in the background with Gerald M. Feierstein, the American Ambassador to Yemen, right, and a translator, while an unidentified member of his ruling party signed an agreement for the president to relinquish power within 30 days. Mr. Saleh did not sign the document himself.
Officials of the Gulf Cooperation Council, the regional group that has been acting as an arbitrator between Mr. Saleh and the Yemeni opposition, announced that they would suspend the proposal, under which Mr. Saleh would receive immunity and step down within 30 days.
The deal’s collapse was a setback for the United States and Yemen’s Arab neighbors, who have pressured Mr. Saleh to sign it and who fear that the stalemate could lead to factional fighting in Yemen.
Mr. Saleh — who has withstood months of street demonstrations calling for his ouster — has backed away from signing the agreement at least twice in recent weeks. But his about-face on Sunday was a piece of bizarre political theater, as tensions between Mr. Saleh’s followers and their rivals rose to new levels.
Mr. Saleh was scheduled to sign the agreement on Sunday, a day after leaders of the country’s political opposition endorsed it in a separate ceremony. But hundreds of men, many of them carrying pictures of Mr. Saleh and urging him to refuse to step down, flooded Sana, the capital, witnesses said.
The men, some armed with guns, knives or swords, surrounded the United Arab Emirates Embassy, where diplomats had gathered to witness Mr. Saleh sign the agreement, according to Yemeni officials and people who were there. The diplomats were trapped for hours, and the signing ceremony could not take place.
Finally, helicopters were dispatched to fly the diplomats to the presidential palace, witnesses said. There, several high-ranking members of the ruling party signed the agreement. But Mr. Saleh refused, noting that the opposition’s leaders — who had been expected to attend — refused to show up.
Later, Mr. Saleh said on state television that the opposition was “dragging us to a civil war, and they will be responsible for the bloodshed.”
Although Yemeni forces eventually broke up the demonstration around the embassy, the armed men continued to block streets and chant slogans late into the night, witnesses said.
The opposition leaders may have refused to show up at the signing ceremony in an effort to increase their credibility with the protesters who have opposed the agreement since it was shaped last month.
The protesters — who have led the popular uprising in Yemen and have unexpectedly turned into a political force — fiercely oppose immunity for Mr. Saleh and his family members. They insist that he should be prosecuted, and they have accused Yemen’s formal political opposition of opportunism for trying to forge a deal.
Whatever their motive, the opposition’s decision to stay away from the ceremony appears to have offended Mr. Saleh and pushed him to refuse to sign. The rising level of distrust has also raised questions about whether his opponents can follow through on the agreement, which calls for them to collaborate in forming a government when Mr. Saleh steps down.
No comments:
Post a Comment