Gulf Ministers Meet to Discuss Yemen Crisis

Gulf foreign ministers met Sunday in the Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh to discuss the crisis in Yemen, after proposing an exit plan for embattled President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

A Yemeni opposition delegation, led by Mohammed Salem Bassandawa, himself a former foreign minister, and Yassin Saeed Noman, head of the opposition Common Forum, were in Riyadh, seeking details on a plan for Saleh's departure.

"We will meet with the Gulf Cooperation Council ministers in Riyadh to ask for clarification on their initiative, especially on the departure of President Saleh," Noman said.

Saleh has since January faced protests calling for his departure in which more than 125 people have been killed.

The Common Forum has made Saleh's departure a prerequisite for any political settlement, while the GCC's bid to resolve the crisis calls for him to hand over power to his vice-president.

The GCC meeting, the third in two weeks, was to "discuss the Gulf initiative concerning the situation in Yemen", state news agency SPA said.

Abdul Wahab al-Ansi of the Islamist Al-Islah party, Sultan al-Atwani of the Unionist Nasserist Party, and Hasan Zaid of Al-Haq Zaidi party were also among the Yemeni delegation.

After their last meeting on April 10, GCC ministers announced a proposal for Saleh to transfer power to his vice-president, and for the formation of an opposition-led unity government.

On Friday, Saleh stood defiant as the elected president of the impoverished country as supporters massed near the presidential palace.

"These popular masses, these millions, in this square have come to say 'yes' to constitutional legitimacy," Saleh told the crowd of tens of thousands.