January 9, 2012
January 9, 2012
Yemen’s Prime Minister Mohammed Salem Basindwah is expected to arrive in Riyadh on Monday, in a multi-leg tour in the Gulf, Al Arabiya reported.
Basindwah will hold talks with Saudi Crown Prince Nayef bib Abdul Aziz later in the day.
Besides Saudi Arabia, the Yemeni top official’s Gulf tour will include Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar. He is accompanied by ministers of foreign affairs, oil, finance, planning, power, expatriates and information, according to an Al Arabiys source.
The main aim of the tour is to get Gulf financial support for aiding Yemen out of its current crisis.
Yemen’s unity government approved a draft law on Sunday to grant its outgoing President Ali Abdullah Saleh immunity from prosecution.
The draft law, which must also be approved by the parliament, would grant Saleh and anyone who worked with him in the civil service, security and military immunity from prosecution for acts committed before the law takes effect, the state-run Saba news agency reported.
A new Yemeni government was sworn in last month after Saleh signed an agreement brokered by the Gulf Cooperation Council to relinquish presidential powers in return for immunity from prosecution. Vice President Abdurabu Mansur Hadi is running the state temporarily and will transfer power to the opposition party after presidential elections on Feb. 21, according to the agreement.
Hadi hopes to transfer power smoothly, Basindwah told Al Arabiya in an interview on Sunday.
The situation in Yemen is still dangerous and it needs the Gulf States to work and help to pass obstacles that could hinder executing the GCC agreement, Basindwah said.
By Al Arabiya
