Yemen President refuses to sign deal

SANAA, Yemen, May 23 (UPI) -- Gulf diplomats were airlifted from an embassy building and forced to suspend a transition deal following Yemen President Ali Abdullah Saleh's refusal to sign.

Members of the Gulf Cooperation Council and western diplomats Sunday were forced to suspend a deal requiring Saleh to resign after he failed to show up to sign the Gulf brokered deal for a third time, the official Chinese news agency Xinhua said.

The meeting took place at the United Arab Emirates embassy in Sanaa.

Hundreds of armed loyalists surrounded the building for hours blocking entrances to the embassy before they were airlifted to the presidential palace, the agency said. There opposition officials signed the deal.

Saleh refused to sign saying the deal should be signed in a public ceremony together with opposition officials.

"We are here standing on a solid ground. If the opposition comes we have peace, security and stability. But if they don't comply they are dragging us into civil war. And they will have to take responsibility for the bloodshed in the past and the blood which will be spilled later on because of their stupidity," the agency quoted Saleh as saying.

The deal calls for Saleh to step down within 30 days and transfer power to his vice president in return for immunity from prosecution, the agency said.

Following Saleh's refusal, the Gulf Arab states issued a statement announcing the suspension of the transition deal, the agency said.

Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are members of the GCC, a political and economic union.