Brussels, 26/09/2011 (Agence Europe) - With the return of President Saleh to Yemen, EU High Representative Catherine Ashton has called on him and all parties in Yemen to “exercise calm and restraint, refrain from any violence and maintain the course towards a swift political agreement in accordance with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) initiative”, her spokesman has announced. Ashton has repeated her call to the Yemeni president to put into effect his pledge to transfer power and to sign the GCC initiative. “The interests of the nation and of the Yemeni people must come first”, she stated.
In a televised speech on 25 September, President Saleh said he was ready for transition, in line with the GCC initiative, but not through elections. He called on the opposition to hold discussions with the deputy president “in order to take the country out of the serious impasse it which it finds itself”. The deputy president is looking to a reconciliation government to be formed by the opposition and the resignation of the president in exchange for immunity.
Fighting between supporters and opponents of the president continues in Sana'a, where more than 170 demonstrators have been killed in one week. Ashton expressed her concern at the escalation in violence and condemned all attacks against peaceful protesters “in the strongest terms”. (CG/transl.rt)