07 March 2011
The proposal calls for a "peaceful transition of power" from Saleh, insists anti-regime demonstrations that broke out over two weeks earlier will go on, and demands a probe be launched into a deadly crackdown on the protests.
"We've agreed on a settlement proposal including a roadmap for the president's departure before the end of this year," said opposition parliamentary spokesman Mohammed al-Sabri.
The five-point plan, which calls for Saleh to step down by the end of 2011 and was agreed on at a meeting of opposition groups and religious scholars, according to Sabri, was yet to receive a response from the veteran leader.
Once Saleh gave an answer, it would ultimately be up to the people of Yemen to "decide whether to accept or reject this proposal," said a statement by the Common Forum, an alliance of parliamentary opposition.
The country has been rocked by a wave of protests in which at least 19 people have been killed since February 16, according to a media toll based on reports and witnesses.
But the embattled 68-year-old president has doggedly rejected domestic calls for his resignation.
Thursday's offer from the opposition and clerics calls on him to "highlight a number of steps by which power will be passed on... during a period that does not exceed the end of this year."
The plan insists "demonstrations and sit-ins will continue," and calls for an "investigation on the crimes committed across Yemen's various provinces throughout the past period... bringing the killers and [and] compensating the families" of the victims.
But thousands of protesters were seemingly unimpressed by the joint proposal, staging a march in the capital Sanaa and pledging to intensify protests until Saleh's departure.
"Revolution, revolution, until victory, or march towards the palace," read their banners.
Protest organizer Hashem al-Ibara told reporters that the demonstrators would begin marching to the palace and intensify their rallies from Saturday, March 5
One of the protesters, Jamal Khayran, said meanwhile that young Yemenis "have nothing to do with the agreements reached in closed rooms.
"The revolution is that of the youth and not a revolt for parties, whether opposition or ruling... we will continue until the downfall of the regime," he added.
Female supporters of Saleh's General People's Congress party staged a counter-protest in Sanaa.
Last month, Saleh, whose long reign makes him one of the Middle East's great survivors, vowed he "will only leave through the ballot box," accusing the opposition of "raising the level of their demands, some of which are illicit."
Responding to Saleh's calls to resume dialogue, stalled since October, the parliamentary opposition had refrained from calling for protests since February 3 but joined the protesters later the same month "after bloodshed and the fall of victims."
Under opposition pressure to stand down, Saleh, announced on February 2 a freezing of constitutional amendments that could have seen him president for life and promised that his son would not succeed him.
The president also put off controversial a plan to hold an April election without a promised dialogue on reform and has appealed for an end to street protests.
But as anti-regime protests gained momentum across Yemen, Saleh pledged on February 27 to defend his government "with every drop of blood," accusing his opponents of hijacking protests in a ploy to split the nation.
The uprising against Saleh was inspired by similar revolts that toppled the seemingly unshakeable presidents of Tunisia and Egypt.
Yemen's opposition had rejected an offer for a unity government Monday, saying it would stand with the tens of thousands of protesters demanding an end to Saleh's 32-year rule.
The move came as violence spiked against security forces in the South. Local officials said gunmen killed two soldiers in successive attacks, and a jail riot killed one inmate and wounded two guards as four prisoners escaped.
Tens of thousands of protesters gathered across Yemen Monday from Sanaa to disparate regions where separatists or Shiite rebels hold sway, chanting slogans such as "No dialogue, no dialogue. You leaving is the only option.
Saleh has tried to rally support from key tribal groups and military leaders. At a meeting with religions leaders, he expressed willingness to form a unity government. "They would not be able to rule for even one week. Yemen would be divided ... into four pieces by those who are riding the wave of stupidity", Saleh said.
Yemen's opposition, already planning countrywide demonstrations for a billed 'Day of Rage", said it would not accept such a proposal.
"The opposition, decided to stand with people's demand for the fall of the regime, and there is no going back from that", said Mohammad al0Sabri, a spokesman for Yemen's umbrella opposition coalition, the Common Forum.
Opposition to Saleh has gained steam since students and activists first took to the street in January.
The activist movement regained support last week from the traditional political opposition, which dropped planned talks with Saleh. The Sanaa protesters' ranks swelled Monday as tribesmen and Islamist groups also joined the rallies.
"It seems that within some tribal circles there are elements who think Saleh's days are numbered and they would be better pinning their colors to a different mast", said Philip McCrum, an analyst at the Economist Intelligence Unit.
Yemen is already teetering on the brink of state failure, one in two people own guns, 40 percent of the population lives on les than 2$ a day and a third face chronic hunger.
In Sanaa, where the government exerts the most control around 5,000 protesters camped out in front of Sanaa University, shouting anti-Saleh slogans in the morning and chewing narcotic qat leaves in their tents and singing nationalist songs in the afternoon. They have been there for over a week.
"The president has made a lot of promises and he has not delivered. We are desperate", said Ahmad al-Muwallad, an unemployed graduate of a university pharmaceutical program.
Naji al-Anisi, 19, is a soldier in the army but joined protesters camped out of Sanaa University.
"I eat two meals a day, just yogurt and bread. But it's OK if it leads to freedom from this regime".
Security forces set up roadblocks around the protest camp in Sanaa to frisk those seeking to join the sit-in.
Police were trying to prevent food from entering the area in an effort to choke off supplies.
Police also blocked a convoy of around 1,000 protesters leaving Taiz in an attempt to reach Aden, where protests have lead to the fiercest clashes between police and demonstrators.
Around 10,000 protesters, held to their two-week camp out in Taiz, 200 kilometers south of the capital, while thousands rallied in the northern cities of Ibb and Hudeida.
Unrest remains high in the South. A local official said two soldiers were killed and 11 wounded in attacks by in the flashpoint Abyan Province. The official blamed Al Qaeda.
The proposal calls for a "peaceful transition of power" from Saleh, insists anti-regime demonstrations that broke out over two weeks earlier will go on, and demands a probe be launched into a deadly crackdown on the protests.
"We've agreed on a settlement proposal including a roadmap for the president's departure before the end of this year," said opposition parliamentary spokesman Mohammed al-Sabri.
The five-point plan, which calls for Saleh to step down by the end of 2011 and was agreed on at a meeting of opposition groups and religious scholars, according to Sabri, was yet to receive a response from the veteran leader.
Once Saleh gave an answer, it would ultimately be up to the people of Yemen to "decide whether to accept or reject this proposal," said a statement by the Common Forum, an alliance of parliamentary opposition.
The country has been rocked by a wave of protests in which at least 19 people have been killed since February 16, according to a media toll based on reports and witnesses.
But the embattled 68-year-old president has doggedly rejected domestic calls for his resignation.
Thursday's offer from the opposition and clerics calls on him to "highlight a number of steps by which power will be passed on... during a period that does not exceed the end of this year."
The plan insists "demonstrations and sit-ins will continue," and calls for an "investigation on the crimes committed across Yemen's various provinces throughout the past period... bringing the killers and [and] compensating the families" of the victims.
But thousands of protesters were seemingly unimpressed by the joint proposal, staging a march in the capital Sanaa and pledging to intensify protests until Saleh's departure.
"Revolution, revolution, until victory, or march towards the palace," read their banners.
Protest organizer Hashem al-Ibara told reporters that the demonstrators would begin marching to the palace and intensify their rallies from Saturday, March 5
One of the protesters, Jamal Khayran, said meanwhile that young Yemenis "have nothing to do with the agreements reached in closed rooms.
"The revolution is that of the youth and not a revolt for parties, whether opposition or ruling... we will continue until the downfall of the regime," he added.
Female supporters of Saleh's General People's Congress party staged a counter-protest in Sanaa.
Last month, Saleh, whose long reign makes him one of the Middle East's great survivors, vowed he "will only leave through the ballot box," accusing the opposition of "raising the level of their demands, some of which are illicit."
Responding to Saleh's calls to resume dialogue, stalled since October, the parliamentary opposition had refrained from calling for protests since February 3 but joined the protesters later the same month "after bloodshed and the fall of victims."
Under opposition pressure to stand down, Saleh, announced on February 2 a freezing of constitutional amendments that could have seen him president for life and promised that his son would not succeed him.
The president also put off controversial a plan to hold an April election without a promised dialogue on reform and has appealed for an end to street protests.
But as anti-regime protests gained momentum across Yemen, Saleh pledged on February 27 to defend his government "with every drop of blood," accusing his opponents of hijacking protests in a ploy to split the nation.
The uprising against Saleh was inspired by similar revolts that toppled the seemingly unshakeable presidents of Tunisia and Egypt.
Yemen's opposition had rejected an offer for a unity government Monday, saying it would stand with the tens of thousands of protesters demanding an end to Saleh's 32-year rule.
The move came as violence spiked against security forces in the South. Local officials said gunmen killed two soldiers in successive attacks, and a jail riot killed one inmate and wounded two guards as four prisoners escaped.
Tens of thousands of protesters gathered across Yemen Monday from Sanaa to disparate regions where separatists or Shiite rebels hold sway, chanting slogans such as "No dialogue, no dialogue. You leaving is the only option.
Saleh has tried to rally support from key tribal groups and military leaders. At a meeting with religions leaders, he expressed willingness to form a unity government. "They would not be able to rule for even one week. Yemen would be divided ... into four pieces by those who are riding the wave of stupidity", Saleh said.
Yemen's opposition, already planning countrywide demonstrations for a billed 'Day of Rage", said it would not accept such a proposal.
"The opposition, decided to stand with people's demand for the fall of the regime, and there is no going back from that", said Mohammad al0Sabri, a spokesman for Yemen's umbrella opposition coalition, the Common Forum.
Opposition to Saleh has gained steam since students and activists first took to the street in January.
The activist movement regained support last week from the traditional political opposition, which dropped planned talks with Saleh. The Sanaa protesters' ranks swelled Monday as tribesmen and Islamist groups also joined the rallies.
"It seems that within some tribal circles there are elements who think Saleh's days are numbered and they would be better pinning their colors to a different mast", said Philip McCrum, an analyst at the Economist Intelligence Unit.
Yemen is already teetering on the brink of state failure, one in two people own guns, 40 percent of the population lives on les than 2$ a day and a third face chronic hunger.
In Sanaa, where the government exerts the most control around 5,000 protesters camped out in front of Sanaa University, shouting anti-Saleh slogans in the morning and chewing narcotic qat leaves in their tents and singing nationalist songs in the afternoon. They have been there for over a week.
"The president has made a lot of promises and he has not delivered. We are desperate", said Ahmad al-Muwallad, an unemployed graduate of a university pharmaceutical program.
Naji al-Anisi, 19, is a soldier in the army but joined protesters camped out of Sanaa University.
"I eat two meals a day, just yogurt and bread. But it's OK if it leads to freedom from this regime".
Security forces set up roadblocks around the protest camp in Sanaa to frisk those seeking to join the sit-in.
Police were trying to prevent food from entering the area in an effort to choke off supplies.
Police also blocked a convoy of around 1,000 protesters leaving Taiz in an attempt to reach Aden, where protests have lead to the fiercest clashes between police and demonstrators.
Around 10,000 protesters, held to their two-week camp out in Taiz, 200 kilometers south of the capital, while thousands rallied in the northern cities of Ibb and Hudeida.
Unrest remains high in the South. A local official said two soldiers were killed and 11 wounded in attacks by in the flashpoint Abyan Province. The official blamed Al Qaeda.
© Monday Morning 2011
