Thursday, May 26, 2011
G8 Summit: Powers urge Yemen leader to go
Leaders of the Group of Eight most powerful nations began a summit in the northern French resort of Deauville.
Leaders of the Group of Eight called on Yemen's president to quit, hoping to avert civil war flaring up in one part of the Arab world as they prepared to help new democracies flourish in another.
Starting a summit in the French seaside resort of Deauville, the G8 - seven Western powers plus Russia - were expected to endorse aid programmes for Tunisia and Egypt, the vanguards of the Arab Spring, which has seen autocratic rulers overthrown.
But the bloodshed and fighting in the Yemeni capital Sanaa darkened any sense of congratulation and offered a stark reminder of the violence that has engulfed other states in North Africa and the Middle East, notably also Libya and Syria.
Summit host France said Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh must end his 33-year rule: "We deplore the fighting that occurred overnight which was a direct result of the current political impasse, for which President Saleh has direct responsibility due to his refusal to sign the GCC transition agreement," he said, referring to the Gulf Cooperation Council.
For the United States, to whom Saleh was long an ally in its conflict with al Qaeda, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in Paris: "We continue to support the departure of President Saleh who has consistently agreed that he would be stepping down from power and then consistently reneged on those agreements."
In Deauville, Japanese foreign ministry spokesman Satoru Satoh also urged Saleh to sign a power transition deal he had negotiated with his opponents after mediation by Gulf states.
David Cameron, the British prime minister, said the summit would show Arabs on the street that the world stood behind them:
"I want a very simple and clear message to come out of this summit, and that is that the most powerful nations on earth have come together and are saying to those in the Middle East and North Africa who want greater democracy, greater freedom, greater civil rights, 'We are on your side'."
"We will help you build your democracy, we will help your economies ... we will help you in all the ways we can, because the alternative to a successful democracy is more of the poisonous extremism that has done so much damage in our world."
Starting a summit in the French seaside resort of Deauville, the G8 - seven Western powers plus Russia - were expected to endorse aid programmes for Tunisia and Egypt, the vanguards of the Arab Spring, which has seen autocratic rulers overthrown.
But the bloodshed and fighting in the Yemeni capital Sanaa darkened any sense of congratulation and offered a stark reminder of the violence that has engulfed other states in North Africa and the Middle East, notably also Libya and Syria.
Summit host France said Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh must end his 33-year rule: "We deplore the fighting that occurred overnight which was a direct result of the current political impasse, for which President Saleh has direct responsibility due to his refusal to sign the GCC transition agreement," he said, referring to the Gulf Cooperation Council.
For the United States, to whom Saleh was long an ally in its conflict with al Qaeda, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in Paris: "We continue to support the departure of President Saleh who has consistently agreed that he would be stepping down from power and then consistently reneged on those agreements."
In Deauville, Japanese foreign ministry spokesman Satoru Satoh also urged Saleh to sign a power transition deal he had negotiated with his opponents after mediation by Gulf states.
David Cameron, the British prime minister, said the summit would show Arabs on the street that the world stood behind them:
"I want a very simple and clear message to come out of this summit, and that is that the most powerful nations on earth have come together and are saying to those in the Middle East and North Africa who want greater democracy, greater freedom, greater civil rights, 'We are on your side'."
"We will help you build your democracy, we will help your economies ... we will help you in all the ways we can, because the alternative to a successful democracy is more of the poisonous extremism that has done so much damage in our world."
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G8 leaders gather in France
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