Arab leaders work on plan for Saleh's exit

A Gulf Arab plan for Yemen's president to step down will guarantee the veteran leader and his family immunity from prosecution, an opposition source said yesterday, and youth activists said that was enough to reject it.
The United States and Gulf Arab countries including Yemen's key financial backer, Saudi Arabia, now appear ready to push aside a long-time ally against Al-Qaeda's Yemen-based wing to avoid a chaotic collapse of the poorest Arab state.
Saleh's sometimes violent response to two months of protests against his 32-year rule has tried the patience of Washington and Riyadh, both of which have been the target of attempted attacks by Al-Qaeda's Yemeni branch.
The Gulf proposal for talks in Riyadh was presented to Saleh and a coalition of opposition parties this week. Saleh welcomed it, and Gulf sources said it envisaged handing power to an interim council of tribal and political leaders who would help appoint a national unity government ahead of elections.
But an opposition source said the proposal would give Saleh and his family, whose control over key posts has long angered many Yemenis, immunity from prosecution and youth activists said in a statement that was not acceptable.
Talks in recent weeks, which included the US ambassador in Sanaa, became bogged down over Saleh's demand for assurances that he and members of his family would not face prosecution.