In
Yemen,
As Saleh
Declares
Amnesty, His
NY Trip Was
Canceled, US
Blocked?
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
November 28 --
On November 23
UN Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon told
the press
Yemen's Ali
Saleh was
stepping back
from power
and said he
would come to
New York for
medical
treatment.
Inner City
Press asked
Ban about the
issue of
immunity,
included in
the Gulf
Cooperation
Council
agreement. Ban
said he hadn't
"discussed
that matter in
detail" with
Saleh.
On
November 28
after the
Security
Council
president,
Portuguese
Ambassador
Cabral,
read a Council
press
statement
welcoming the
deal but also
mentioning
accountability,
Inner City
Press asked
Cabral how to
square the
Council
statement with
many public
reports that
Saleh and his
family
are getting
immunity. Video
here, from
Minute 3:55.
Cabral
said, "This
is the
position of
the SC. It's
not the first
time we have
stated
that violence,
human rights
violations and
those
responsible
for them
should be held
accountable."
Later
it was
explained to
Inner City
Press that the
actually
document
signed by
Saleh was more
detailed than
the GCC
agreement and
tries to "go
beyond" the
GCC deal,
saying for
example that
going forward
Yemen will
implement such
things as UN
Human Rights
Council calls
for
investigations.
Does Saleh
understand and
accept that?
On Saturday he
returned to
Yemen and
declared an
amnesty for
all except
those who
attacked him.
Why
did
Saleh not
come to New
York? Some say
the US has
blocked him.
Some in Yemen
say
that Saleh
"knows he
can't travel."
Others say
that Ban
Ki-moon was
never supposed
to make public
this part of
what Saleh
told him, one
even saying,
perhaps
jokingly, that
Ban violated
"medical
privacy" by
doing so.
We'll see.
Karman at UN,
(c) MRLee
Tawakkol
Karman,
meanwhile, was
traveling on
Monday, to The
Hague to
petition the
ICC
to take action
against Saleh;
Inner City
Press has been
sent and puts
up this video
link, here.
, 
