Gulf official says Yemen deal postponed
By Associated Press
May 1, 2011 6:55 AM CDT
An elderly anti-government protestor, center, carried on the shoulders of other demonstrators, reacts during a demonstration demanding the resignation of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, in Sanaa,Yemen, Saturday, April 30, 2011. Eyewitnesses said Yemeni forces stormed the main square in a southern...   (Associated Press)

A Gulf official says the signing ceremony of a deal to end Yemen's political crisis has been indefinitely postponed, signaling the possible collapse of the agreement.

Ahmed Khalifa al-Kaabi, a media official at the Riyadh headquarters of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, said on Sunday that the postponement was caused by the refusal of the Yemeni president to personally sign the deal.

Ali Abdullah Saleh, Yemen's leader of 32 years, told the GCC secretary general in a meeting late Saturday in Sanaa that he had asked a senior aide to represent him in the signing ceremony in Riyadh.

The ceremony was expected to be held on Sunday or Monday.

The GCC deal provides for Saleh to step down within 30 days.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

SANAA, Yemen (AP) _ A deal mediated by a Gulf bloc to end Yemen's political crisis has been thrown into doubt by the country's leader saying he would not personally sign it.

Officials from President Ali Abdullah Saleh's ruling party said the Yemeni leader has told the head of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation council in a late Saturday meeting in the Yemeni capital Sanaa that a senior aide would represent him at a signing ceremony scheduled to take place in Saudi Arabia on Monday.

Yemeni opposition parties said it would not sign the deal if Saleh did not. While the representatives of the hundreds of thousands who have been staging anti-Saleh demonstrations since early February have rejected the entire deal, demanding that Saleh immediately step down and face trial.

The GCC proposals provide for the creation of a national unity government and for him to hand over power to his vice president within 30 days _ as well as immunity from any future prosecution.

The officials, who spoke Sunday on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media, said Saleh assured Abdullatif bin Rashid al-Zayani, the GCC secretary general, during Saturday's meeting that he would ratify the deal after it is signed by his close aide and senior ruling party official Abdul-Karim al-Iryani.

Al-Zayani, a Bahraini, left Sanaa Saturday night.

The GCC comprises Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Oman and Bahrain.

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