Gulf Mediators Call for Yemen's Prez to Quit

Al Jazeera reports:

Gulf Arab mediators seeking an end to Yemen's unrest have called for a three-month transition plan that would end with a presidential election, a government official has said.

Their proposal, which called for an immediate end to protests, would see Ali Abdullah Saleh, the president, step down within a month of signing the initiative and hand over powers to his vice-president.

According to the plan, reported on Thursday, a unity government led by the opposition would work to organise presidential elections within two months of Saleh's resignation.

Gulf Co-operation Council has proposed "the formation of a national unity government with 50 per cent held by the ruling party, 40 per cent by the opposition and 10 per cent by other parties," an official said.

"The president would transfer his powers to his deputy, and then the protests would end," the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, was quoted by the AFP news agency.

Following this "the president would submit his resignation to parliament within 30 days".

A day earlier, Saleh said he would "resist" calls to resign and would abide by the constitution in any transfer of power.

Addressing a women's group in Sanaa, the capital, on Wednesday, he reiterated he would relinquish power only through elections.

"We will continue to resist ... undaunted and committed to constitutional legitimacy, while rejecting the plots and coups," Saba news agency quoted Saleh as saying.

"Let those who want to attain power rely on the ballot box. Change can only come about through elections and within the framework of constitutional legitimacy," Saleh, whose term runs until 2013, said.

Saleh's statement comes after members of the UN Security Council failed to come up with a joint statement on Yemen after adding the country's crisis to their agenda for the first time.