The UN Security Council on Friday passed a resolution calling on Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh to immediately sign a deal under which he would quit.
However, Yemen’s Nobel Peace Prize winner, Tawakkul Karman, criticized the council for not opposing a Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) proposal to give Saleh immunity from prosecution if he signs the deal.
“They have to discuss the ousting of Saleh and how he has to be handed over to the International Criminal Court as a war criminal,” Karman said outside the Security Council.
The resolution, unanimously agreed by the 15 members, “strongly condemns” deadly government attacks on demonstrators and backs the GCC plan under which Saleh would end his 33 years in power.
Several hundred people have been killed since protests against Saleh erupted in January.
The Security Council called on Saleh to keep a promise to immediately sign the GCC plan and for a peaceful power transition “without further delay.”
Saleh has repeatedly stalled the GCC initiative that would see him step aside 30 days after it was signed in exchange for immunity from prosecution.
‘NOT ENOUGH’
Karman called for greater international pressure on Saleh, saying the resolution should have been tougher.
“This is not enough,” she told reporters.
“We feel that the resolution did not address the issue of accountability and amnesty,” she added, rejecting any suggestion of Saleh escaping prosecution.
“We reject any killing. We just want a fair trial for him. The revolution people [sic] will take Saleh in a peaceful manner. Saleh and his children will receive a fair trial,” Karman said.
Karman was backed by Human Rights Watch (HRW).
“The Security Council should have more clearly distanced itself from the GCC impunity deal. By signaling that there would be no consequence for the killing of Yemenis, the immunity deal has contributed to prolonging the bloodshed,” HRW’s UN representative Philippe Bolopion said.
British Ambassador to the UN Mark Lyall Grant said the resolution includes some “tough messages” for Saleh and Yemen’s opposition.
“We have made very clear in the resolution that all those responsible for violence, for human rights abuses should be held accountable,” he said.
The Security Council went from the vote to consultations on events in Libya, including the killing of ousted Libyan strongman Muammar Qaddafi.
PRESSURE
Diplomats said the death of Qaddafi and uprisings in other Arab nations could put pressure on the Yemeni leader, but there was no threat of sanctions in the resolution drawn up by Britain.
The Yemen resolution orders a UN report on Yemen within 30 days and Lyall Grant said the Security Council could quickly come back to the crisis.
The US welcomed the resolution and called for an immediate transition in Yemen.
“Today the international community sent a united and unambiguous signal to President Saleh that he must respond to the aspirations of the Yemeni people by transferring power immediately,” White House spokesman Jay Carney said.
“Each day that passes without a political solution plunges Yemen deeper into turmoil,” Carney said in a statement.
Saleh’s refusal to hand over power since his return from medical treatment in Saudi Arabia and growing fears about the growing influence of al-Qaeda have heightened international concern about the country.
Saleh says if he stands down, his archrivals, General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar and tribal leader Sheikh Sadeq al-Ahmar, must also withdraw from Yemeni politics. The capital is now divided between forces loyal to the three rivals.
CONFRONTATION: The water cannon attack was the second this month on the Philippine supply boat ‘Unaizah May 4,’ after an incident on March 5 The China Coast Guard yesterday morning blocked a Philippine supply vessel and damaged it with water cannons near a reef off the Southeast Asian country, the Philippines said. The Philippine military released video of what it said was a nearly hour-long attack off the Second Thomas Shoal (Renai Shoal, 仁愛暗沙) in the contested South China Sea, where Chinese ships have unleashed water cannons and collided with Philippine vessels in similar standoffs in the past few months. The China Coast Guard and other vessels “once again harassed, blocked, deployed water cannons, and executed dangerous maneuvers” against a routine rotation and resupply mission to
GLOBAL COMBAT AIR PROGRAM: The potential purchasers would be limited to the 15 nations with which Tokyo has signed defense partnership and equipment transfer deals Japan’s Cabinet yesterday approved a plan to sell future next-generation fighter jets that it is developing with the UK and Italy to other nations, in the latest move away from the country’s post-World War II pacifist principles. The contentious decision to allow international arms sales is expected to help secure Japan’s role in the joint fighter jet project, and is part of a move to build up the Japanese arms industry and bolster its role in global security. The Cabinet also endorsed a revision to Japan’s arms equipment and technology transfer guidelines to allow coproduced lethal weapons to be sold to nations
‘POLITICAL EARTHQUAKE’: Leo Varadkar said he was ‘no longer the best person’ to lead the nation and was stepping down for political, as well as personal, reasons Leo Varadkar on Wednesday announced that he was stepping down as Ireland’s prime minister and leader of the Fine Gael party in the governing coalition, citing “personal and political” reasons. Pundits called the surprise move, just 10 weeks before Ireland holds European Parliament and local elections, a “political earthquake.” A general election has to be held within a year. Irish Deputy Prime Minister Micheal Martin, leader of Fianna Fail, the main coalition partner, said Varadkar’s announcement was “unexpected,” but added that he expected the government to run its full term. An emotional Varadkar, who is in his second stint as prime minister and at
Thousands of devotees, some in a state of trance, gathered at a Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Bangkok renowned for sacred tattoos known as Sak Yant, paying their respects to a revered monk who mastered the practice and seeking purification. The gathering at Wat Bang Phra Buddhist temple is part of a Thai Wai Khru ritual in which devotees pay homage to Luang Phor Pern, the temple’s formal abbot, who died in 2002. He had a reputation for refining and popularizing the temple’s Sak Yant tattoo style. The idea that tattoos confer magical powers has existed in many parts of Asia