The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper The Spokesman-Review
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
Current Temperature
49°F
Current Conditions
Light rain
View complete weather report

Color Scheme

Subscribe now

U.S. envoy urges Saleh to vacate presidency

Ahmed Al-Haj Associated Press

SANAA, Yemen – Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh must “expeditiously” sign a deal that would have him transfer power to his vice president and step down, the White House counterterrorism chief told Saleh in a meeting at a hospital where the Yemeni leader is being treated for serious injuries.

It was the strongest and most public sign yet of U.S. pressure on Saleh, whose rule is being challenged by a five-month-old popular uprising. Yemen’s president has promised several times in the past to sign the deal, brokered by Gulf Arab countries led by staunch U.S. ally Saudi Arabia, then balked at the last minute.

White House envoy John Brennan met Saleh at a hospital in Saudi Arabia on Sunday where Saleh is recovering from wounds sustained in a June 3 attack on his presidential compound in Sanaa, the Yemeni capital.

The White House said Brennan urged Saleh to sign the transfer-of-power agreement “expeditiously.” Brennan also told Saleh, Yemen’s leader of nearly 33 years, that “assistance will flow to Yemen” when the deal is signed and implemented.

“The United States believes that a transition in Yemen should begin immediately so that the Yemeni people can realize their aspirations,” the White House statement said.

The deal was brokered by the Gulf Cooperation Council, a loose alliance of six U.S.-backed Gulf nations that have often looked with concern at the turmoil in Yemen, their poor neighbor on the southern corner of the Arabian Peninsula. Under the agreement, Saleh would be granted immunity from prosecution.

The proposal has been rejected by anti-government protesters who have staged massive demonstrations across the nation since February to force Saleh out of office. They insist that Saleh must step down immediately and unconditionally.

An official statement in Sanaa said Saleh told his American visitor that any transfer of power in Yemen must be carried out in a democratic framework and under the guidance of the constitution, suggesting a gradual process he wants to oversee.