SAUDI ARABIA: Prime Minister Mohammed Basindwa obtains promise of support from Riyadh as his country seeks to end 10 months of turbulence

Record ID: 188894

  • Title: SAUDI ARABIA: Prime Minister Mohammed Basindwa obtains promise of support from Riyadh as his country seeks to end 10 months of turbulence
  • Date: 11th January 2012
  • Summary: RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA (JANUARY 10, 2012) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF THE PALACE'S GUEST HOUSE MEMBERS OF YEMENI COMMUNITY LISTENING TO YEMENI PRIME MINISTER MOHAMMED BASINDWA SPEAKING (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) YEMEN PRIME MINISTER MOHAMMED BASINDWA,SPEAKING TO THE YEMENI COMMUNITY IN RIYADH, SAYING: "Of course there are problems. You cannot expect us to end all the problems in a day and a night." SENIOR YEMEN DELEGATION SEATED AUDIENCE CLAPPING MAN FROM THE YEMENI COMMUNITY REQUESTING HELP AND EXPLAINING THE PROBLEMS THE YEMEN COMMUNITY FACES IN SAUDI ARABIA MEMBERS OF AUDIENCE LISTENING TO DISCUSSION BETWEEN BASINDWA AND MAN FROM THE YEMENI COMMUNITY SAUDI ROYAL GUARD (SOUNDBITE) (English) YEMENI PRIME MINISTER MOHAMMED BASINDWA SAYING: "The United States has played a good role, a very positive role, in convincing all sides to agree to the GCC initiative and the mechanism." SAUDI ROYAL GUARD OFFICE (SOUNDBITE) (English) YEMENI FOREIGN MINISTER DR. ABUBAKR AL-QIRBI SPEAKING TO REPORTERS, SAYING: "Well, certainly I think we have had a concrete commitment from the government and the custodian of the two mosques to provide Yemen with the support they feel is needed in this transitional period." BASINDWA SHAKING HANDS WITH MEMBERS OF THE YEMENI COMMUNITY
  • Embargoed: 26th January 2012 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabia
  • Country: Saudi Arabia
  • Topics: International Relations,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA8TC944V4E0D1OVD7Y845K0CDC
  • Story Text: Yemeni Prime Minister Mohammed Basindwa was in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday (January 10) to seek concrete backing for his nation after a Gulf-brokered deal under which Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh would leave office.
    Basindwa admitted there were still political problems to be ironed out in Yemen after the deal to end deadly clashes between Saleh's supporters, anti-government protesters and troops loyal to a dissident army general.
    "Of course there are problems. You cannot expect us to end all the problems in a day and a night," he told members of the Yemeni community in Riyadh.
    Basindwa praised United States role in bringing about the Gulf-brokered plan.
    "The United States has played a good role, a very positive role, in convincing all sides to agree to the GCC mechanism," Basindwa said.
    Yemeni Foreign Minister Abubakr al-Qirbi, who is accompanying Basindwa on his tour of Gulf Arab capitals, said Basindwa obtained a promise of support from Saudi Arabia but without a concrete figure for any aid it would receive.
    "Certainly we have had a concrete commitment from the government of (King Abdullah) to provide Yemen with the support they feel is needed in this transitional period," Qirbi said.
    Basindwa met Saudi King Abdullah on Monday (January 9).
    The Yemeni prime minister and foreign minister will meet other Gulf Arab leaders this week to talk about help for the impoverished Arabian Peninsula state which has become home to a deadly wing of al Qaeda.
    Qirbi met Gulf Arab deputy finance ministers last month to discuss aid to Yemen.
    Last month Saudi Arabia agreed to donate fuel to Yemen to prevent a shortage in the country provoking further violence.
    The plan by Yemen's wealthier Gulf neighbours to transfer power in Yemen has divided cabinet posts between the opposition Joint Meeting Parties (JMP) and Saleh's General People's Congress (GPC), forming a national unity government intended to steer Yemen towards a presidential election in February under the leadership of saleh's deputy, Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.
    The United States and Saudi Arabia are keen for the plan to work, fearing that a power vacuum in Yemen is giving militants space to thrive alongside a key shipping strait, the Red Sea.
    Saleh signed the deal in November, having backed out of it three times before, but question marks remain over the intentions of the veteran leader, who earlier this week said he would stay in Yemen, reversing a pledge to travel to the United States.
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