Sana'a: A deal mediated by a Gulf bloc to end Yemen's political crisis has been thrown into doubt by the country's leader saying he would not personally sign it.
Officials from President Ali Abdullah Saleh's ruling party said the Yemeni leader has told the head of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation council in a late Saturday meeting in the Yemeni capital Sanaa that a senior aide would represent him at a signing ceremony scheduled to take place in Saudi Arabia on Monday.
Yemeni opposition parties said it would not sign the deal if Saleh did not. While the representatives of the hundreds of thousands who have been staging anti-Saleh demonstrations since early February have rejected the entire deal, demanding that Saleh immediately step down and face trial.
The GCC proposals provide for the creation of a national unity government and for him to hand over power to his vice president within 30 days - as well as immunity from any future prosecution.
The officials, who spoke on Sunday on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to the media, said Saleh assured Abdul Latif Bin Rashid Al Zayani, the GCC secretary general, during Saturday's meeting that he would ratify the deal after it is signed by his close aide and senior ruling party official Abdul Karim Al Iryani.
Al Zayani, a Bahraini, left Sanaa Saturday night.
The GCC comprises Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, UAE, Oman and Bahrain.
