Wednesday, April 06, 2011

SANAA: Yemen’s president urged the opposition to join talks in Saudi Arabia to try to end weeks of turmoil and violence in which at least three more people were killed Tuesday.

The Gulf Cooperation Council Monday invited government and opposition representatives to talks in Saudi Arabia, at a date yet to be set, with the United States pressing the veteran political survivor to negotiate with his opponents.
Saleh, who ignored a transition-of-power plan offered by the opposition Saturday, accepted the Arab Gulf states’ invitation Tuesday and urged the opposition to follow suit.

“I promise that we will make every effort to return things to normal through talks with rational people from the Joint Meetings Party,” he said, referring to the main opposition coalition.

“We repeat our invitation to them to sit at the table of dialogue and we call for a restraint from violence.”
Aides to a prominent general, Ali Mohsen, who turned against Saleh last month, said he had also accepted the call for talks in Saudi Arabia. But the Joint Meetings Party was non-committal in its response.

“We welcome the [GCC] position on respecting the Yemeni people’s choices and we will also welcome any efforts made for the sake of President Saleh’s speedy departure,” spokesman Mohammad al-Sabri said.

The Pentagon said Tuesday there were no plans to suspend U.S. military assistance to Yemen but renewed calls for a peaceful transition of power amid a wave of anti-regime protests.

Three people died and 15 were wounded in the capital Tuesday when Saleh supporters clashed with protesters, the Defense Ministry said. General Mohsen said the incident was an attempt to assassinate him.
A statement said Mohsen came out to meet a delegation of tribal mediators sent by Saleh and snipers then opened fire. “The issue appeared to be a trick to assassinate Ali Mohsen, intermediaries and a group of tribal sheikhs,” it said.
Security forces and armed men in civilian clothes fired on protesters Monday in Taiz, south of Sanaa, and the Red Sea port of Hudaida, killing 21 people.

Security forces and armed men again attacked a crowd of tens of thousands of protesters in Taiz Tuesday, residents said, and protesters responded by hurling rocks. Doctors said around 30 protesters were wounded by gunfire and beatings. Around 300 were wounded in total, they said, most suffering from tear gas inhalation.
Tribesmen kidnapped two soldiers in Lowdar, a southern city in the flashpoint Abyan province where militants also operate, a local official said. Earlier Tuesday, officials said they found the bodies of two shot soldiers outside Lowdar. – Reuters