Obama’s counter-terror aide urges Saleh to transfer power

President Barack Obama’s senior counter-terrorism official, John Brennan, met Yemen’s President Ali Abdullah Saleh in a Riyadh hospital on Sunday and urged him to sign a power transfer deal proposed by the Gulf states as soon as possible.

“The United States believes that a transition in Yemen should begin immediately so that the Yemeni people can realize their aspirations,” White House spokesman Jay Carney said in a statement.

Mr. Carney said that Mr. Brennan wished President Saleh a speedy recovery and reiterated US condemnation of the attack against him.

He called on Mr. Saleh to fulfill quickly his pledge to sign a Gulf-brokered deal for a peaceful handover of power in Yemen.

“Mr. Brennan emphasized the importance of resolving the political crisis in Sana’a so that the Yemeni government and people can successfully confront the serious challenges they face, including the terrorist attacks carried out by Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which have claimed the lives of hundreds of Yemeni citizens,” Mr. Carney said.


He said Brennan told him the United States is working closely with Yemen’s allies in the Gulf Cooperation Council, Europe, and elsewhere to ensure that much needed assistance will flow to Yemen as soon as the GCC proposal is signed and implemented.

Veteran leaders in Egypt and Tunisia bowed to popular pressure to resign, but Mr. Saleh has refused to do so and has hung on to power despite international pressure and six months of protests against his 33-year rule.

(Mustapha Ajbaili, Night Editor of Al Arabiya English, can be reached at: [email protected])