Yemen's authoritarian President Ali Abdullah Saleh agreed Wednesday to step down after a fierce uprising to oust him from 33 years in power. Saleh signed the agreement, brokered by Yemen's Gulf Arab neighbours, in the Saudi capital, Riyadh.
Saleh, seated beside Saudi King Abdullah in the Saudi capital Riyadh, signed a U.S.-backed deal hammered out by
his country's powerful Gulf Arab neighbors to transfer his power within 30 days to his vice president, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi. The agreement cleared a key roadblock in the transition to a new era for Yemen, which has been the scene of violent protests for months as Saleh's opponents demanded he leave power after 33 years in office.
Live footage of the ceremony aired by Saudi state television on Wednesday showed Saleh sign the Gulf- and UN-brokered agreement in
Riyadh's Al-Yamama royal palace watched over by members of the Yemeni opposition as well as Saudi King Abdullah and Gulf foreign ministers.
A crackdown on anti-government protests, which began in February, has left hundreds of people dead and thousands wounded in Y
emen. The 69-year-old leader - who has rule
d since 1978 - came close to signing the deal several times in the past, only to pull out at the last minute.
Saleh is the fourth Arab leader toppled in the wave of Arab Spring uprisings this year, after longtime dictators fell in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya. The deal gives Saleh immunity from prosecution – contradicting one key demand of Yemen's opposition protesters.
"This disagreement for the last 10 months has had a big impact on Yemen in the realms of culture, development, politics, which led to a threat to national unity and destroyed what has been built in past years," he said. Before the deal's signing, a presidential source said Saleh would remain permanently in Saudi Arabia after he signed it.
Another Yemeni government official said it was unclear what Saleh would do. After signing the deal, Saleh said his government welcomes the partnership with what he called the "brothers in the opposition" and pledged a "real partnership" with them.
No comments:
Post a Comment