GCC Calls Off Yemen Pact Signing Ceremony
The Gulf Cooperation Council said on Sunday that a ceremony to finalize a Yemeni pact ending three months of protests has been cancelled after embattled President Ali Abdullah Saleh refused to sign.
"The ceremony that was supposed to be held (Sunday)... will not take place," said the press office of GCC secretary general Abdullatif al-Zayani, after the Gulf-brokered deal between Saleh and the opposition collapsed in tatters.
A delegation from Saleh's ruling General People's Congress party and the opposition Common Forum coalition had been due to travel to the Saudi capital on Sunday to sign the deal in the presence of GCC foreign ministers.
Instead, GCC ministers will meet at the Riyadh airbase, the GCC press office said, presumably to discuss the future of the deal.
Zayani left the Yemeni capital on Saturday after failing to get Saleh to sign the pact in his capacity as president, prompting the opposition to call off their plan to send a delegation to Riyadh.
The GCC deal proposes the formation of an opposition-led government of national unity, Saleh transferring power to his vice president and an end to the deadly protests that have rocked the country since late January.
Under the accord, the Yemeni strongman would submit his resignation to parliament on the 30th day after the deal, a day after the parliament would pass a law guaranteeing immunity from prosecution to Saleh and his aides.
Presidential election should follow after 60 days.
However, a defiant Saleh has publicly insisted on sticking to the constitution in any transfer of power, even though General People's Congress has said it accepts the GCC plan.
Source: Agence France Presse
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