Thursday, March 03, 2011

Yemen’s opposition presented Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh with a road map for a smooth transition of power this year, offering him a graceful exit as street pressure grew for him to step down now.
Backtracking from his searing criticism of Israel and the U.S. over the Arab uprisings, Saleh called a senior White House aide Wednesday to express regret for his comments.

The opposition agreed with religious and tribal leaders to ask him to take steps toward a transition.
Illustrating the potential for rifts among his diverse opponents, young activists who have taken the lead in street protests demanded immediate change. “Get out! Get out! Get out!” protesters chanted near Sanaa University, where once-small student-led protests have grown into daily rallies of 10,000 or more. “No negotiation and no dialogue until the regime leaves.”

Elsewhere, 30 people were wounded as Saleh loyalists clashed with several thousand protesters in the Red Sea town of Hudeidah, southeast of the capital.
Saleh accused President Barack Obama Tuesday of meddling in the affairs of Arab countries. He asked whether Obama was president of the United States or president of the Arab world. Saleh also said Israel was behind the protest movement.

Saleh called Obama’s top anti-terrorism adviser, John Brennan, to “convey his regret for misunderstandings related to his public remarks that Israel and the United States have engaged in destabilizing activities in Arab countries,” the White House said in a statement. Saleh also reaffirmed his commitment to meaningful political reform.

Opposition’s demands included changing the Constitution and rewriting election laws to ensure fair representation in Parliament, open up voter registration and make politics more democratic overall. The opposition also wants the removal of Saleh’s relatives from leadership positions in the army and security forces, and a guaranteed right to peaceful protest.

“What was presented [to a representative of Saleh] was a road map for departure within a time frame of a month or two, or six months,” said Mohammad al-Sabry, a spokesman for Yemen’s main opposition coalition.
“As for the people’s demand for the departure of the regime, there is no going back on that,” he added.

The rotating opposition chairman, Mohammad al-Mutawakil, said the coalition was also asking for trials of those responsible for a harsh crackdown on protests in which 24 people were killed in two weeks, most in the south.
Disturbances continued there Wednesday as police and armed squatters clashed. Two people were killed.
Dozens of men tried to take over several apartments in an unfinished state housing project in Sabr, in the southern province of Lahaj. Residents told Reuters that shooting broke out as police tried to stop them.

“We have to start the transfer of power from the person to civil society organizations, and this is a needed step to ensure a safe and peaceful exit to the situation Yemen is living in,” Mutawakil said.
Protesters on the streets, 10,000 each in Sanaa and the industrial cities of Taiz and Ibb, showed little readiness to allow a more measured transition.

Cash-strapped Sanaa appointed a judge Wednesday to look into graft issues and talks were planned for Saturday to discuss an initiative to provide 60,000 jobs to young college graduates.
Saleh has seen a series of allies defect, including a leading hard-line Muslim preacher, Sheikh Abdul-Majid al-Zindani. – Agencies