1 of 4 | Tribesmen celebrate in Yemen's second-largest city Taez (Taiz), a flashpoint of anti-regime demonstrations south of the capital Sanaa, on June 5, 2011, as hundreds of people took to the streets to celebrate the departure of long term President Ali Abdullah Saleh, wounded in a blast June 3, and who left for treatment in Saudi Arabia. UPI\Mohammad Abdullah |
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WASHINGTON, June 6 (UPI) -- The treatment of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh in Saudi Arabia opens the door to political transition or even more crises, a Yemeni expert claims.
Saleh was treated at a hospital in Saudi Arabia for wounds suffered during an attack on a mosque he was visiting last week. He's been maintaining a grip on power since anti-government protests erupted early this year. Demonstrations have turned to street warfare pitting tribal fighters against forces loyal to Saleh.
The Yemeni president ignored international pleas and refused to sign a deal brokered by the Gulf Cooperation Council that outlined his departure.
Christopher Boucek, a Yemen specialist at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told London's pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat that Saleh's departure from Yemen could break the political deadlock.
"Now it is possible for the Yemeni Vice President (Abdel Rabbo Mansur Hadi) to assume an interim leadership position there, and then begin preparations to hold free and fair general elections," he said.
A truce appeared to hold Monday in Yemen as the president recovered in Saudi Arabia. Boucek said the situation could escalate given the political uncertainty in Sanaa.
"It's no secret that the economy is in ruins, and there is a need to focus on addressing this fundamental challenge," he told the newspaper. "Yemen's declining economy is at the heart of all the problems in the country."
