SANAA, Yemen, April 10 (UPI) -- Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh would quit in return for promises of protection under an Arab plan leaked Sunday.
The BBC reported it had obtained details of the Gulf Co-operation Council proposal, under which Saleh would hand over power to his vice president, who would preside over an interim government until elections.
Saleh's position was still unclear Sunday. He has offered to resign while also saying he cannot "abandon" his people. He has welcomed mediation by the GCC, then spurned it, then embraced it again.
Under the GCC proposal, Saleh would go in return for "guarantees of protection" for himself and his family. Relatives in powerful posts are reportedly pressing him to hang on.
An interim regime would be formed from "all streams of the Yemeni nation" under mediation by Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states.
"All sides are putting the country at risk of civil war and they need to come to an agreement not in days, but in hours," said Abdel Ghani al-Iriyani, a Yemeni political obersver. "We have tanks facing the streets of Sanaa. The situation is becoming increasingly hard to control."
GCC foreign ministers were meeting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Sunday to review the situation.
