Yemen ruling party threatens to change mind if mediators fail to stop opposition of preaching reconciliation deal

By Mohammed al-Kibsi Yemen’s ruling party threatened to change its mind about the power transfer agreement if the opposition did not stop preaching the peace deal brokered by the GCC and backed by the UNSC. In a statement issued on Thursday the ruling party accused the opposition of seeking to thwart the internationally backed deal by financing more demonstrations and of violating the power transfer deal. The ruling party called the regional and international mediators to interfere and press on the opposition parties to implement the power- transfer deal and stop preaching it. "Or we will take another position in the coming few hours," said the statement. The opposition organized a demonstration marching from the southern city Taiz to the capital Sana’a and the ruling party organized a similar one marching from Sana’a to Taiz. These two marches show the escalation after relative calm since the conflicting parties signed the GCC initiative and scheduled implementation plan in the Saudi capital Riyadh on November 23, 2011. Saleh is expected to leave the country for medical treatment for injuries sustained in an attack on his palace in June, said the UN envoy to Yemen Jamal Benomar on Thursday. President Saleh earlier had spent three months recuperating in Riyadh capital of Saudi Arabia. "My understanding is that President Saleh still requires serious medical treatment and medical treatment that he will require outside of Yemen," Benomar told reporters after briefing the UN Security Council in New York. "Efforts are being made for arrangements to be concluded for him to get this treatment," he said. Some diplomats revealed that President Saleh would head to the United States or Germany for treatment and that procedures have been taken for granting him the required visas. President Saleh signed a peace deal brokered by GCC and backed by UNSC last month in Riyadh after ten months of political unrest and protests left hundreds dead. Under the deal he agreed to transfer power to his deputy, and formally to hand over power to the will elected president in a pre presidential elections scheduled to be held in February. According to the deal Saleh has given his deputy Abdu Raboo Mansour Hadi full authorities to run the country affairs and to prepare for the presidential elections and to compromise with the opposition for amending the constitution and the elections law. Benomar said the new government needed to re-establish control over large parts of the country now under the control of al-Qaeda. And he hailed the progress achieved for brining the military back to barracks and removing trenches and militants from the capital and main cities of Yemen. After treatment, Saleh will return to Yemen to act as the head of General People Congress party GPC. The interim government is expected to submit its general program to the Parliament next week. The opposition members of the parliament ( about 60 out of 301) returned to sessions on Tuesday December 20 after about 11 months of boycotting the parliament sessions. The law of immunity from prosecution for senior officials from both sides the ruling party and from the opposition will be issued by the Parliament after voting on the new government program over the few coming weeks according to the GCC deal and its scheduled implementation plan and the UN resolution 2014 on the solution of the Yemeni crisis. Troops and militants were withdrawn from the capital and other main cities including Taiz city that witnessed 2 weeks of clashes between government forces and between defected army supported by Islamic militias. In the Yemeni capital Sana’a, troops and armed tribesmen from both sides were withdrawn from many streets. Sand bags and soil barriers were removed from these streets and relatively normal life is back now. The sand bags and soil barriers in some of the most dangerous touching points like Aser intersection on the 60 street were removed. And the process is continuing to clean the capital from all military and weapons manifestations. The military committee chaired by the vice president Hadi on Wednesday ordered the police directors of the capital Sana’a and the educational office of the capital to work for removing troopers and militants from the schools of Sana’a. Over 50 schools in Sana’a are still occupied by troops and armed tribesmen from both sides. The military committee started to evacuate them. However, the military committee in charge for restoring stability faced more difficulties in removing the huge pile of sand bags and barriers in Al Hasaba neighborhood, where the most influential opposition tribal leader Hamid Al Ahmar and his ten brothers have been in armed conflict with the government troops since last May. But 10 international and Arab ambassadors seem to be determined to work day and night for helping the vice president, who is authorized from Saleh to act as president, and the new government to implement the step by step plan until a new president is elected on February 21st, 2011. These 10 ambassadors are the five ambassadors of the UNSC permanent member states, 4 ambassadors from the six gulf nations and the ambassador of the European Union. "We follow up hour by hour what's happening in the ground in terms of implementation for what Yemenis agreed to do for ending their crisis," said one of the 10 ambassadors. "If any failure happens, we will know easily who is responsible for that failure and we will say to the world this is the responsible," the ambassador added. Earlier last week, the Vice President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi put a one week long road map to withdraw all government forces and opposition armed militants from the streets of the capital Sanaa and the other cities starting at 8 o'clock in the morning on Saturday December 17th, 2011. In a meeting with the military committee for achieving security and stability, which was formed from opposition and government, Mr. Hadi who is authorized by President Saleh to act as president till elections are held next February, said : The government forces must return to their permanent camps and opposition armed people must return to their villages and houses.