By Mohammed al-Kibsi
Yemen officials confirmed that President Saleh was granted unconditional visa to the US.
However US media outlets quoted a White House sources that said the Obama administration is still considering the matter.
Some other media outlets said that the Obama administration has decided in principle to allow president Saleh, to enter the United States for medical treatment, subject to certain assurances according to two administration officials.
But those conditions — including a proposed itinerary — have not yet been submitted to the American Embassy in Yemen, these officials said, and no visa has yet been issued to Mr. Saleh.
The assistant secretary general of the General People Congress Party Sultan al-Barakani affirmed that the US embassy in Sana’a had informed them that the president was offered unconditional visa to the US.
“We were informed yesterday from the American Embassy about the arrival of the visa,” said al-Barakani on Tuesday.
“They called us again today and confirmed the visa. And they requested to know the date of the travel and the route.”
New Your Times said tha path is cleared for president Saleh to get care in the United States, however it said that the decision of whether to admit him has stirred a vigorous debate within the administration, with some officials fearing sharp criticism for appearing to provide a safe haven for a reviled Arab figure accused of responsibility for the death of hundreds of antigovernment protesters.
The paper said the complex negotiations over Mr. Saleh’s visa request attest to the high stakes for the administration, which urgently wants to secure room for political progress in Yemen but does not want to allow Mr. Saleh to use a medical visit as a way to shore up his political position. Nor do they want to play into Mr. Saleh’s penchant for keeping people off kilter.
The paper added that if allowed to enter, Mr. Saleh would be the first Arab leader to request, and to be granted, an extended stay in the United States since political unrest began convulsing the region a year ago.
The news paper quoted an administration official as saying that there was no further “impediment” to issuing Mr. Saleh a visa, and that he could arrive at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital as soon as the end of this week for additional treatment of medical problems stemming from a near-fatal bomb blast in June at the mosque in his presidential complex.
Though the administration had been concerned that approval would anger the many Yemenis eager to see Mr. Saleh prosecuted for the killing of protesters by his security forces, some believe that giving him a way out of Yemen, even temporarily, could help smooth the way to elections next year and perhaps end a political crisis that has brought the government of the impoverished nation to the brink of collapse.
In a statement on Sunday in Hawaii, where President Obama is vacationing this week, the administration said that if Mr. Saleh was granted a visa, it would be only for “legitimate medical treatment.”
Still, it appeared that the administration was also looking for a way to help calm the political chaos that has undermined efforts to prevent terrorist groups from operating in Yemen.
“The main goal is to remove him physically from Yemen so there’s no way he can meddle in the political process there,” the official said. “Getting him medical treatment seemed a logical way to do this.”
Mr. Saleh would not be allowed to bring a large entourage or use his visit for political reasons, the official said.
A spokeswoman for NewYork-Presbyterian, Myrna Manners, said she could not confirm whether Mr. Saleh would be going there. “As of now, we are not admitting him to NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital,” she said.
On Saturday the Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh told reporters he would travel to United States soon not only for medical treatment but also for political affairs.
And he said he would return to Yemen to join the opposition through his party after a new president is elected on February 21, 2012.
Saleh accused the Islamist and tribal leader Hamid Al Ahmar of being behind the terrorist attack on him and his top aides on June 3, 2011.
Saleh also said in a press conference held in his Palace late Saturday, that Hamid Al Ahmar funded a protesting march from Taiz to Sanaa.
Saleh said that the defected general Ali Muhsen has no more than 300 soldiers who still loyal to him now.
No comments:
Post a Comment