Yemen’s opposition rejects call for national unity government

SANA’A - Yemen’s main opposition party Monday rejected an invitation from President Ali Abdullah Saleh to join a national unity government.

Saleh made the call during a meeting with prominent preachers and religious leaders, the official Saba news agency reported.

The creation of a national unity government is part of an eight-point plan proposed by Saleh as a response to protesters demanding his resignation.

But the main opposition party, Islah, said it would not participate in any government and would “stick to the demands of the people”.

“The crisis now is not between the regime and the opposition. It is between the regime and the people,” Islah assistant secretary-general Muhammad al-Saadi told DPA.

“This offer is not new,” al-Saadi said. “And we have already given our response, this is not the solution for the crisis.”

Islah leads a group of opposition parties grouped under the Joint Meeting Parties (JMP) alliance.

The JMP is organising a “Day of Rage” for Thursday to demand the ouster of Saleh and to protest against the violent response by the police towards anti-Saleh protests in the south.

At least 13 people have been killed in clashes between police and anti-government protesters in the past week.

During the latest clashes Friday, five protesters and a policeman were killed in the southern port city of Aden, while 23 others -including four policemen - were injured.