U.N. Security Council Urges Saleh to Step Down
The U.N. Security Council on Friday passed a resolution calling on Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh to immediately sign a deal under which he would quit.
The resolution, unanimously agreed by the 15 members, "strongly condemns" deadly government attacks on demonstrators and backs a Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) peace plan under which Saleh would end his 33 years in power.
Several hundred people have been killed since protests against Saleh erupted in January.
The Security Council's strongest pronouncement yet on the Yemen crisis called on Saleh to keep a promise to immediately sign the GCC plan and for a peaceful power transition "without further delay".
Saleh has said he agrees to the plan by the six Gulf states but has refused to sign it or implement any of its provisions.
Yemeni Nobel Peace Prize winner Tawakkul Karman, who was outside the Security Council for the vote, called for greater international pressure on Saleh, saying the resolution should have been tougher.
"This is not sufficient. They have to discuss the ousting of Saleh and how he has to be handed over to the International Criminal Court," Karman said.
"We feel that the resolution did not address the issue of accountability and amnesty," she added, again rejecting any suggestion of an amnesty for Saleh.
"We reject any killing. We just want a fair trial for him. The revolution people will take Saleh in a peaceful manner. Saleh and his children will receive a fair trial," Karman told reporters.
The Security Council went from the vote to consultations on events in Libya, including the killing of ousted strongman Moammar Gadhafi.
Diplomats said the death of Gadhafi and uprisings in other Arab nations could put more pressure on the Yemeni leader. But there was no threat of sanctions in the resolution drawn up by Britain.
Russia and China this month vetoed a proposed resolution which spoke of possible measures against Syria's President Bashar al-Assad and have strongly condemned the NATO air strikes in Libya.
But the Yemen resolution orders a report on events in the country within 30 days, and Britain's U.N. ambassador Mark Lyall Grant said the council could come back to the Yemen crisis.
Lyall Grant said the resolution includes some "tough messages" for Saleh.
The unanimous vote "reflects the very deep international concern about the deteriorating political, humanitarian, security and economic situation in Yemen," he said.
The resolution "strongly condemns the continued human rights violations by the Yemeni authorities, such as the excessive use of force against peaceful protestors."
It demands that "all sides" reject the use of violence for political goals and says that all those responsible for violence, human rights violations and abuses "should be held accountable."
The council has so far agreed only two statements, which have lesser diplomatic weight than a resolution, on Yemen.
Saleh's refusal to hand over power since his return from medical treatment in Saudi Arabia and growing fears about the rising influence of al-Qaida have heightened international concern about the country.
After 33 years in power, Saleh is refusing to step down unless his arch rivals, General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar and tribal leader Sheikh Sadeq al-Ahmar, who are currently battling his troops in Sanaa, also step aside.
The capital is now divided between the three while al-Qaida controls many provinces.
Source: Agence France Presse
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