Clinton says Yemen leader has reneged on promises
Source: CBS News / AP
(AP) SANAA, Yemen — Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Tuesday that the U.S. regrets that Yemen's president has not complied with agreements to leave the country and allow elections for a successor.
Her comments came as Yemen's foreign minister suggested next month's presidential vote could be delayed because of security concerns. A top ruling party official also told The Associated Press that President Ali Abdullah Saleh met with high-level security officials this week and decided to ask parliament to delay the elections until May 22, which would be a violation of the U.S.-backed agreement the president signed in November. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information.
"There have been agreements with respect to the way forward that have not been fulfilled," Clinton said during a trip to Ivory Coast. "We regret that the president has thus far failed to comply with his own commitments to leave the country, to permit elections to go forward that give the people a chance to be heard and be represented."
Saleh, Yemen's authoritarian leader of 33 years, agreed under pressure to a plan brokered by Yemen's Gulf Arab neighbors to transfer power to his vice president and hold presidential elections in February that will essentially rubber-stamp the vice president's takeover.
Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-501713_162-57359985/official-says-yemen-unrest-could-delay-elections/
