June 6, 2011 (BBC)
Yemen’s main opposition coalition says it will accept a transfer of power to the vice-president, after President Ali Abdullah Saleh left for Saudi Arabia.
Otherwise, the opposition Joint Meeting Parties said, they would seek to form a transitional government.
Vice-President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi stepped in when Mr Saleh departed on Saturday for medical treatment.
It is unclear if Mr Saleh – who was wounded last week in an attack on his compound in Sanaa – will return.
Presidential sources insist Mr Saleh is only in Riyadh for treatment and will be back in Yemen in a matter of days.
Mr Saleh, who has ruled since 1978, has so far refused to leave office despite protests and a tribal uprising which has brought the country to the brink of civil war.
‘Other options’
Meanwhile, at least three people died on Monday in the capital Sanaa in clashes with security forces, according to the Ahmar tribe.
“The opposition supports the complete transfer of power to the vice-president,” Sultan el-Atwani, a leading figure in the Joint Meeting Parties, told Reuters news agency.
“In the case this falls through, the opposition and the youth of the revolution have alternative options, meaning a transitional council.”
Mr Saleh had refused three times to sign a deal brokered by Gulf countries under which he would have handed power to Mr Hadi in exchange for immunity from prosecution.
Thousands of people have been celebrating Mr Saleh’s departure.
However, there are mounting fears for the stability of the country, which is home to an al-Qaeda wing and riven with tribal and political divisions.
Excerpted from BBC
