Diplomats Trapped in Yemen Embassy

CNN reports:

The American, British and European Union ambassadors to Yemen are trapped in an embassy surrounded by gunmen angry about efforts by Arab mediators to ease President Ali Abdullah Saleh out of power, the American envoy told CNN.

U.S. Ambassador Gerald Feierstein said the ambassadors of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman and the United Arab Emirates are also being prevented from leaving the UAE embassy.

Feierstein has contacted his superiors to say he is fine, a State Department official told CNN.

The official believes the Yemeni government is behind the demonstration in Sanaa, the source said, declining to be named speaking about a sensitive ongoing situation.

The United Kingdom, European Union and Arab nations did not immediately confirm that their envoys were trapped.

Bahrain's Foreign Minister Khaled al-Khalifa said he was in touch with Gulf Cooperation Council Secretary-General Abdul Latif Zayani about the situation, calling it "volatile."

Saleh was originally expected to sign a deal Sunday brokered by Zayani, who is also at the UAE embassy.

But the Yemeni president raised a new obstacle earlier Sunday, refusing to recognize the opposition signature on it from the day before.