Yemen still on board with GCC proposal

SANAA, Yemen, May 2 (UPI) -- Reports that Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh didn't back an agreement to step down are unfounded, a spokesman for the ruling party said Monday.

Saleh last week reportedly agreed to the terms of a proposal offered by the Gulf Cooperation Council to step down next month in return for immunity from prosecution. Sources close to opposition leaders in Yemen said Saleh said he wouldn't sign the deal, however.

Saleh has maintained his long-standing grip on power despite months of anti-government protests against his regime. Hundreds of people were reported to have been killed in clashes pitting pro-reformists against state security forces.

Tariq al-Shami, a spokesman for the ruling General People's Congress, was quoted in Yemen's official Saba news agency as saying the opposition claims were unfounded.

"The president and the GPC and its allies have accepted the initiative and cling to its implementation as a whole," he said.

An opposition coalition in Yemen welcomed the GCC plan though it added it wouldn't take part in a unity government. The immunity proposal also is a source of contention for those inside Yemen.