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May 23, 2011 Mediation Suspended as Yemeni Leader Refuses to Step Down 23 May 2011 VOA News A council of Arab states has suspended its mediation efforts after Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh refused to sign a transition deal for him to leave office. The Gulf Cooperation Council made the decision Sunday after Mr. Saleh backed out of the deal a day after Yemen's opposition signed the pact with the understanding that the president would sign it on Sunday. This is the third time the Yemeni leader has refused to sign the deal. The agreement offers Mr. Saleh immunity from prosecution if he transfers power to a deputy within 30 days of signing. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says the United States is "deeply disappointed" by Mr. Saleh's refusal to sign the deal. In a statement late Sunday, she also said Mr. Saleh is turning his back on his commitments and disregarding the aspirations of the Yemeni people. Earlier, European, U.S. and Arab ambassadors were trapped for hours in an embassy in Sana'a surrounded by armed government supporters. Yemeni helicopters eventually ferried the diplomats out of the mission. Clinton said the U.S. is outraged by the incident and called on Mr. Saleh to meet his obligations to protect foreign diplomats and their staffs working in Yemen. Hundreds of thousands of anti-Saleh protesters Sunday poured into Sana'a's central square, which has become the center of opposition protests. In a speech Saturday, the president denounced the U.S.-backed proposal as a "coup" and warned that his departure could allow al-Qaida to take over parts of Yemen. The Yemeni leader has faced months of anti-government protests demanding that he end his more than 30-year rule. His government has responded to the demonstrations with a bloody crackdown. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [email protected]. -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [email protected] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [email protected] Unsubscribe: [email protected] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtmlYahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: [email protected] [email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
