Yemen ruling party convenes to avoid UN resolution

By Mohammed al-Kibsi

In an extraordinary meeting chaired by Vice president Abdo Rabbo Mansour Hadi, the General People Congress ruling party and the Alliance Coalition Parties discussed the international position concerning the impasse in Yemen.

The meeting reviewed the last developments at the local, regional and international levels to find a peaceful and democratic solution to the current crisis in the country based on the Gulf-brokered initiative and its timeline mechanism, said Saba news agency on Thursday.

The meeting also voiced appreciation of the international interest in solving the Yemeni crisis democratically.

The GPC Assistant Secretary-General Ahmed bin Daghr read the report of the UN envoy to Yemen Jamal bin Amr and the attitudes and opinions discussed in the Security Council's recent meeting.

For his part, the Vice President briefed the meeting's attendees on the international positions at various levels and the views adopted by the Security Council's members on the Yemeni crisis.

Hadi called on the government and opposition to cooperate and put the country's interest first and end the crisis.

The meeting will continue its discussions next Saturday.

The Yemeni government has urged the UN Security Council to avoid a resolution targeting President Ali Abdullah Saleh, calling on the UN to back a political solution for the country's crisis.

"The government of Yemen that follows closely the discussions over the situation in Yemen at the Security Council, stresses that the solution for the crisis does not come through issuing resolutions," said an unnamed government official quoted overnight Wednesday by Saba state news agency.

An exit from the crisis after months of protests would be reached "through a political solution, and implementing the Gulf initiative that the ruling party endorsed, presenting a comprehensive mechanism to implement it," he added.

Protesters demanding the ouster of Saleh are hoping to see decisive action by the UN Security Council forcing the president to quit. The Security Council began discussions of the situation in Yemen on Tuesday.

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) had proposed a peace plan under which Saleh would hand power to a transitional government.