Thu, November 24, 2011
SANAA, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh' s office said Friday that it is filing a case against members of the opposition and defected army for the June 3 bomb attack on the presidential compound to the public prosecution, official Saba news agency reported.
Saba gave no further details, but Saleh's aides have earlier charged opposition's powerful tribal leader Sadiq al-Ahmar and his brother Hameed, as well as defected General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar with masterminding the attack that killed at least 13 high-ranking military and government officials and injured 87 others, including Saleh. However, the opposition coalition denied the accusation on Aug. 7.
The move came hours after the opposition leaders reiterated their stance to the visiting UN envoy Jamal bin Omar that Saleh should sign the UN-backed initiative for power transfer before resuming any bilateral dialogue.
Meanwhile, the opposition accused Saleh's forces of killing two bodyguards of dissident Sheikh Himyar al-Ahmar, a brother of Sadiq al-Ahmar, in Sufan district in northern Sanaa on Friday, according to the opposition media.
The UN envoy is now trying to persuade the 33-year ruler to sign the UN-backed Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) initiative to transfer power peacefully and end violence.
Bin Omar was expected to leave Yemen late on Friday to present his report on the progress of implementing the UN resolution 2014 to the Security Council, which was issued on Oct. 21 and called on Saleh to sign the GCC initiative.
