Yemeni president not to quit until successor elected: aide

SANAA, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh will not resign until a presidential election is held to elect a new legal leader for the country, Saleh's press secretary Ahmed al- Soufi told Xinhua.

"President Saleh is the legitimate leader of Yemen and he will not resign until a new president is elected through an early presidential election," al-Soufi said.

"Saleh's decree to authorize his deputy was only about resuming dialogue with the leaders of the opposition coalition Joint Meeting Parties (JMP) in order to set a timetable and mechanism to sign the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) initiative," said al-Soufi from Saleh's office in Sanaa.

Saleh, who has been facing eight months of protests demanding an end to his 33-year rule, is still in Saudi Arabia for rehabilitation for injuries he sustained in an attack on his palace in early June.

Earlier last week, the embattled president issued a decree authorizing his deputy Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi to sign the GCC initiative after launching a dialogue with the opposition to set a timetable and mechanism to transfer power.

Saleh's move is welcomed by the United States, which said Thursday that "there were encouraging signs for the GCC power- transition deal to be accomplished within one week."

However, the opposition insists that Saleh sign the deal first before any dialogue is launched.

"The JMP is apparently not willing to sit around the peaceful dialogue table for agreeing on a mechanism to implement the GCC power-transition deal, because the JMP's strategy was built on the ideas of sabotage and demolition," said al-Soufi, adding that " therefore a proposed dialogue is completely out of the JMP's priorities."

Al-Soufi said that "the United States and the European Union are conducting intensive attempts to convince the JMP to resume dialogue with the ruling party based on the GCC initiative to resolve the prolonged political crisis."

The deal, which was pushed forward by the United States and Gulf countries and was signed by the JMP in May, stipulates that Saleh leaves office within 30 days after signing the deal in exchange for immunity from prosecution. It also stipulates that a transitional government be formed by the opposition and a presidential vote be held in 60 days.

Saleh has backed out of signing the deal in the last minutes for three times.

Editor: Tang Danlu