GCC chief leaves Yemen after ruling party signs deal

SANAA, May 22 (Xinhua) -- The Yemeni government on Sunday sent a military helicopter to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Embassy in Sanaa to carry chief of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Abdullatif al-Zayani to the airport after the ruling party signed the GCC-brokered deal, a security official told Xinhua.

"Al-Zayani left Sanaa after representatives of the ruling party signed the deal, which President Ali Abdullah Saleh refused to ink personally, stipulating the presence of the opposition in order to sign it," the official told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

Al-Zayani headed for the Saudi capital Riyadh to attend a meeting of GCC foreign ministers to discuss the results of the GCC efforts to resolve the Yemeni political standoff, a government official said.

According to the security official, dispatching the helicopter came after Saleh's loyalists staged a "peaceful rally" earlier the day in front of the UAE embassy, where Gulf mediators and western ambassadors were waiting for Saleh to sign the U.S.-backed GCC deal.

He said earlier that the rally was staged to "protest against the U.S.-backed GCC deal which proposed Saleh's resignation within a month after he signs it."

"It is a peaceful show, the protesters do not want Saleh to sign the deal," he added.

Meanwhile, UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan on Sunday urged the Yemeni government to take necessary measures to guarantee the safety of the UAE embassy in Sanaa and all its staff.

The deal, which has been derailed twice since April, stipulates Saleh to leave office within 30 days after signing it in exchange for immunity from prosecution, and a new government, to be formed by the opposition within seven days, should arrange the presidential and parliamentary elections in 60 days.

Another military helicopter was also sent to the UAE embassy to carry the Gulf and Western ambassadors to Yemen to their missions in Sanaa.

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Yemeni President Balks at Signing Resignation Deal

Saleh warns of Yemen civil war, Gulf deal unsigned

 Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh warned on Sunday of civil war if the opposition defied his call for them to be present at his palace for him to sign a Gulf deal on a transition of power.

Yemen -- Yemen's embattled president on Sunday resisted intense U.S. and Arab pressure and stalled at signing a deal calling for him to step down in 30 days, as his regime brought armed supporters into the streets demanding he stay. Hundreds of militiamen trapped the American and other ambassadors inside a diplomatic mission for hours.

The militiamen, armed with knives and swords, blocked the entrances to the United Arab Emirates Embassy, where at least five U.S., European and Arab ambassadors had gathered, expecting President Ali Abdullah Saleh to arrive to sign the agreement.

Finally in the evening, Yemeni military helicopters landed at the embassy and ferried the diplomats out, taking them to the presidential palace. There they witnessed several Yemeni ruling party officials sign the accord. But Saleh, shown on state TV standing alongside the U.S. ambassador, did not sign.

Saleh said afterward he would not do so unless opposition leaders attend and sign it as well in public, not "behind closed doors."

"If they don't comply, they are dragging us to a civil war, and they will have to hold responsibility for the bloodshed in the past and the blood which will be spilled later on because of their stupidity," Saleh warned in an address on state TV.

The developments threatened to wreck a U.S.-backed, Gulf Arab-mediated accord that diplomats hope could resolve the turmoil that has raged in Yemen for the past three months, with tens of thousands of protesters demanding Saleh step down after 32 years in power, and his regime unleashing a deadly crackdown. The accord calls for Saleh to step down in 30 days and hand power to his vice president, in return for immunity from prosecution.

A coalition of opposition parties signed the agreement in private on Saturday, and Saleh promised to sign it the following day.

Saleh has backed away from signing the deal at least twice before, adding to the opposition's deep mistrust of a leader known for adept political maneuvering that has kept him in power for decades. A Gulf official in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, warned that the Gulf Cooperation Council, the regional body that mediated the deal, would withdraw from mediation if Saleh did not sign by the end of the day Sunday.