US ‘orders’ Saleh to leave Yemen

Ousted Yemeni dictator Ali Abdullah Saleh

Wed Nov 5, 2014 8:59PM

The United States has “ordered” Ali Abdullah Saleh, the ousted Yemeni dictator, to leave the Arab country by Friday or face UN sanctions, a report says.

According to The Associated Press, Saleh’s General People’s Congress political party said in a statement issued on Wednesday that Matthew H. Tueller, the US ambassador to Yemen, told its officials that the former ruler had to leave Yemen before 5:00 p.m. Friday, otherwise “sanctions will be imposed against him”.
“This is a blatant intervention in Yemen’s internal affairs,” the party said. “It’s rejected and unacceptable.”
Saleh, who ruled Yemen for 33 years, also angrily dismissed the alleged US demand. “The man has not been created or given birth by his mother yet to tell Ali Abdullah Saleh to leave his country,” Saleh wrote on his Facebook page.
He was a close ally of the United States for decades and enjoyed Washington’s support in his crackdown on dissent in 2011.
Saleh stepped down in February 2012 under a US-backed power transfer deal in return for immunity, after a year of mass street demonstrations demanding his ouster.
His vice president, Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi, replaced him on February 25, 2012 following a single-candidate presidential election backed by the United States and Saudi Arabia.
GJH/GJH