By Mohamed Sudam, Mohammed Ghobari

Reuters

SANAA: Yemen’s opposition rejected Monday a Gulf Arab initiative for President Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down, because it appears to offer him immunity from prosecution, while Saleh himself welcomed the plan.
Gulf Arab foreign ministers meeting in Riyadh late Sunday said publicly for the first time that the framework of their mediation effort involved Saleh standing down, though it did not say when that would occur.

The ministers called for a meeting of parties to the Yemeni conflict in Saudi Arabia but set no date.
“Who would be a fool to offer guarantees to a regime that kills peaceful protesters? Our principal demand is that Saleh leaves first,” opposition spokesman Mohammad al-Sabri said, referring to assurances that Saleh and his sons would not face the fate of rulers in Tunisia and Egypt.

Tens of thousands filled the streets of Sanaa, Taiz, Hudaida, Ibb and the southeastern province of Hadramaut Monday to protest against the GCC plan, witnesses said.
Diplomatic sources say Saleh has dragged his heels for weeks over U.S. attempts to get him to agree to step down and end protests crippling the country since early February, maneuvering to win guarantees that he and his sons do not face prosecution.

With more than 100 protesters killed as security forces try to break up demonstrations with tear gas and live fire, activists have said they want to see legal action against Saleh and his sons, who occupy key security and political posts.
Gen. Ali Mohsen, a kinsman of Saleh whose units are protecting protesters in Sanaa, said Monday he welcomed the details of the GCC plan announced in Riyadh.

“He hopes all parties will accept this initiative and not miss this opportunity,” a statement from his office said.
Shortly after the opposition rejected the Gulf initiative, Saleh’s office issued a statement saying he accepted it.
“The presidency welcomes the efforts of our brothers in the Gulf Cooperation Council to solve the current crisis in Yemen,” the statement said from his office said.

“He [Saleh] has no reservations about transferring power peacefully within the framework of the Constitution,” it added, in language Saleh has used before to argue he should oversee a transition involving new elections.
Saleh has warned of civil war and the break-up of Yemen if he is forced to leave power before organizing parliamentary and presidential polls over the next year.

He had sought Saudi mediation for some weeks, but Gulf diplomatic sources said Riyadh was prompted in the end by concern over the deteriorating security in its southern neighbor after Saleh failed to act on the backroom deal struck with U.S. officials on a quick exit.

Countries of the region became convinced that Saleh, a shrewd political operator in power since 1978, is an obstacle to stability in a country that overlooks a shipping lane where over 3 million barrels of oil pass daily.
The GCC statement Sunday talked of “the formation of a national unity government under the leadership of the opposition which has the right to form committees … to draw up a constitution and hold elections.”

It said Saleh should hand his authorities over to his vice president and that all parties should “stop all forms of revenge … and [legal] pursuance, through guarantees offered” – wording that appeared to offer Saleh assurances of no prosecution for him or his family once he leaves office.
Saleh’s deputy, Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, has said he is not interested, which could open the way to the perennial survivor nominating an interim successor of his own choice.

In continued unrest, 11 suspected Al-Qaeda members were killed in a clash with Yemeni forces Monday in the south of Yemen, the Yemeni Defense Ministry said.
Two of the militants killed in the clash in Abyan province were foreigners, the ministry website said.