UNITED NATIONS – The U.N. Security Council called Friday for Yemen’s president to immediately accept a deal to transfer power to his deputy and end escalating violence in the strategically located Middle East nation.
The council unanimously adopted a resolution expressing serious concern at the worsening security and deteriorating economic and humanitarian situation in Yemen “due to the lack of progress on a political settlement and the potential for the further escalation of violence.”
President Ali Abdullah Saleh has so far balked at a U.S.-backed plan proposed by Saudi Arabia and its five smaller allies in the Gulf Cooperation Council to hand over power to his deputy and step down in exchange for immunity. He is accused by many Yemenis of pushing the country toward civil war by clinging to power despite massive protests, the defection to the opposition of key tribal and military allies, and mounting international pressure to step down.
The resolution was the first adopted by the U.N.’s most powerful body since the Arab Spring uprising in Yemen began eight months ago. It was clearly aimed at stepping up international pressure on Saleh, who was president of North Yemen from 1978 until 1990 when he became the first president of
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