SALEH’S REQUEST FOR SAFE EXIT REJECTED: SOURCE

Abu Dhabi, 28 Jumadil Akhir 1436/17 April 2015 (MINA) – Deposed President Ali Abdullah Saleh has sent envoys to a number of GCC capitals in an effort to gain safe exit for himself and his family out of Yemen by denying his links to Houthi militias, Al Arabiya News Channel reported citing a GCC official.

The diplomat said Saleh’s envoys were visiting Gulf capitals to enhance Saleh’s image. The envoys have also reportedly declared that Saleh is bankrupt, which the Gulf state official in turn called morally and politically bankrupt.

This is not the first time that Saleh has reached out to the Gulf states, Al Arabiya quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

His son, Ahmed, had reportedly told Saudi authorities that he would turn against the Houthi militias in return for immunity for him and his father.

Ahmed Saleh suggested a deal that would see him, Saleh’s eldest son, launch a coup against the Shiite group with 5,000 security personnel loyal to Saleh and 100,000 members of the Saleh-aligned remnants of the republican guard units.

Ahmed took up his post as the Yemeni ambassador to the UAE in 2013.

On Wednesday, the Gulf Cooperation Council welcomed a U.N. Security Council resolution imposing an arms embargo against the Houthi militias, which also blacklisted the country’s deposed president Saleh.

Saudi Arabia is leading a 10-state coalition against the Houthi militias, whom Saleh had allied himself with as they took control of the country’s capital earlier this year. (T/P001/P3)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)