Yemeni Opposition Accepts Deal

The Wall Street Journal reports:

SAN'A, Yemen—Yemen's opposition coalition accepted a deal to remove President Ali Abdullah Saleh from power in exchange for immunity for himself and his relatives, clearing the way for the country's first political transition in its modern history.

The proposed deal has the backing of the U.S. and Yemen's Arab neighbors including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Diplomats from these nations lobbied both sides over the weekend to accept the deal, amid increasing worry that al Qaeda networks that have taken refuge in Yemen will capitalize on the country's political crisis to launch terrorist attacks.

Under the deal, the president is obligated to hand over power to his vice president 30 days after the plan is formally accepted by the leader and the umbrella group of opposition parties.

A San'a-based diplomat from the Gulf Cooperation Council, a grouping of Arab countries that brokered the deal, said a ceremony to officially sign the pact should occur in a matter of days. This event would kick off the 30-day timeline for President Saleh to leave office, he said.

The deal, which Mr. Saleh accepted over the weekend, offers multiple sweeteners for the leader to leave office after 32 years, despite his tenacious battle to keep power since public protests erupted in January demanding his ouster.

The student protesters who make up the backbone of the protest movement had earlier rejected the plan because of the contentious immunity clause. They have long demanded that the president stand trial for the deaths of more than 140 people killed during the protests and answer for alleged corruption and cronyism during his rule.

However, the array of opposition groups who have united in the three-month national protests against the president agreed Monday to compromise on that stance, with protest leaders saying a quick end to the political crisis would be in the best interests of the country. Their turnaround also came after heavy lobbying by Arab and Western diplomats after they held out all weekend.

"[We] accepted the GCC proposal after a long debate from within for the sake of Yemen. It was either that or a civil war," said Ahmed Bahri, a senior opposition leader.

The hard-core student activists who have spearheaded the anti-Saleh demonstrations say they intend to stay on the streets throughout the 30-day period until the president resigns, to keep the pressure on the leader to follow through.

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