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| Arabia |
| Saleh urges talks in Saudi, clashes kill 3 |
| 2011-04-06 |
| SANAA - Yemen’s president urged the opposition to join talks in Saudi Arabia to try to end weeks of turmoil and violence in which at least three more people were killed on Tuesday. Faced with mass demonstrations demanding an end to his 32-year rule, President Ali Abdullah Saleh is clinging to power in the poorest country in the Middle East, from which al Qaeda has planned attacks on the United States. The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) on Monday invited government and opposition representatives to talks in Saudi Arabia, at a date yet to be set, with the United States pressing the veteran political survivor to negotiate with his opponents. Saleh, who ignored a transition-of-power plan offered by the opposition on Saturday, accepted the Arab Gulf states’ invitation on Tuesday and urged the opposition to follow suit. “I promise that we will make every effort to return things to normal through talks with rational people from the Joint Meetings Party,” he said, referring to the main opposition coalition. “We repeat our invitation to them to sit at the table of dialogue and we call for a restraint from violence.” Aides to a prominent general, Ali Mohsen, who turned against Saleh last month, said he had also accepted the call for talks in Saudi Arabia. But the Joint Meetings Party was non-commital in its response. “We welcome the (GCC) position on respecting the Yemeni people’s choices and we will also welcome any efforts made for the sake of President Saleh’s speedy departure,” spokesman Mohammed al-Sabri said. |
| Posted by:Steve White |