사나, 예멘 (AP) - 32년째 장기 집권 중인 독재자 알리 압둘라 살레 예멘 대통령은 대통령과 그 가족들에 대한 처벌 면제의 조건으로 30일 이내에 퇴진을 골자로 한 걸프협력협의회(GCC)의 중재안을 수용키로 하면서 조기 퇴진으로 입장을 번복했다.
23일 7개 야당 연합은 이를 조건부로 수용하겠다는 방침을 밝혔음에도 불구하고 수십 만 명의 시위대가 알리 압둘라 살레 예멘 대통령의 즉각 퇴진을 요구하며 물러설 기미를 보이지 않고 있어 조건부 퇴진으로 예멘의 시위상황이 호전되기는 힘들 것으로 보인다.
저격수를 동원하는 강경진압으로 130여명의 사망자가 발생했음에도 불구하고 전날, 두 달 만에 가장 많은 시위대가 수도의 5차선 도로를 메우면서 시위는 매일 더욱 치열해지고 정권에 대한 거부감이 점점 거세어 졌다.
당국의 강경 진압에도 불구하고 시위가 사그라지지 않고 몇몇 군 사령관을 비롯한 살레의 측근들이 잇따라 그에게 등을 돌리자 2013년을 끝으로 권력을 이양하고 퇴임하겠다고 버티던 살레도 결국 타협의 길을 택한 것으로 보인다.
살레를 아라비아 반도의 테러단체 알-카에다에 맞서는 보루로 삼았던 우방 미국은 시위를 우려스러운 눈으로 바라보고 있었다. 예멘의 알-카에다는 남부 산악지대에 근거를 두고 미국과 해외의 목표에 몇 차례 공격을 시도하기도 했다.
미국 국무부 마크 터너대변인은 “미국정부는 권력이양 조건에 대해서 모든 관계자들이 즉각적인 대화로 위기를 종식시키려는 제안을 환영한다면서 예멘의 정치적 대화결과로 어떤 선택을 할 것 인지 아직 추측하지 않을 것이며 국가를 어떻게 다스릴 것인지에 대해 예멘인 들에게 맡길 것이다“ 고 밝혔다. 백악관은 예멘의 모든 정당이 권력이양 조건의 실시를 위해 신속한 조치를 취할 것을 촉구하고 나섰다.
살레 통령정권의 부정부패와 빈곤에 실증을 느낀 야당 운동단체들은 북아프리카 튀니지, 이집트의 독재자들의 실각에 고무되어 지난 2월 시위를 시작으로 점차 세력을 확산해 왔다.
사우디아라비아등 아라비아반도 6개국으로 구성된 걸프협력협의회(GCC)의 중재안에 따르면 살레 대통령에게 법적보호를 보장하는 대신 30일 이내에 부통령에게 권력을 이양하고 퇴진키로 돼 있다. 부통령은 새로운 대통령을 선출하기 위한 선거를 실시한다.
그러나 GCC 중재안에는 야권이 선뜻 수용하기 어려운 전제 조건들이 포함돼 있어 살레의 실제 퇴진 시기가 상당 시일 늦춰질 가능성도 있다.
(영문기사 원문)
Yemeni president agrees to step down in 30 days
SANAA, Yemen (AP) — Yemen's embattled president agreed to a proposal by Gulf Arab mediators to step down within 30 days and hand power to his deputy in exchange for immunity from prosecution, a major about-face for the autocratic leader who has ruled for 32 years.
A coalition of seven opposition parties said Saturday they also accepted the deal but with reservations. Even if the differences are overcome, those parties do not speak for all of the hundreds of thousands of protesters seeking President Ali Abdullah Saleh's ouster, and signs were already emerging that a deal on those terms would not end confrontations in the streets.
A day earlier, protesters staged the largest of two months of demonstrations, filling a five-lane boulevard across the capital with a sea of hundreds of thousands of people. Day after day of protest have presented a stunning display of defiance in the face of a crackdown that has included sniper attacks and killed more than 130 people.
The uprising and a wave of defections by allies, including several top military commanders, have left Saleh clinging to power and now appear to be pushing him to compromise on his earlier refusal to leave office before his term ends in 2013.
The United States has watched the uprising with particular concern because Saleh has been an ally in fighting al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, which is based in Yemen's remote mountainous south and has made several nearly successful attempts to attack U.S. and other targets abroad.
U.S. State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Washington welcomes the proposal for ending the crisis and called for immediate dialogue by all sides on a transfer of power.
"We will not speculate about the choices the Yemeni people will make or the results of their political dialogue," he said. "It is ultimately for the people of Yemen to decide how their country is governed."
Later, the White House in a statement urged all parties in Yemen "to move swiftly to implement" a deal transferring power.
The opposition movement, fed up with poverty and corruption under Saleh, took inspiration from the toppling of leaders in Tunisia and Egypt and has grown in numbers since the first protests in early February.
The six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, which includes powerful Saudi Arabia, has been seeking to broker an end to the crisis in the fragile nation on the southern edge of the Arabian peninsula.
Under the latest draft, Yemen's parliament would grant Saleh legal protection from prosecution. The president would submit his resignation to lawmakers within 30 days and hand power to his vice president, who would call for new presidential elections.
Opposition spokesman Mohammed Kahtan described the Gulf council's initiative as "positive" and said the leaders of the opposition parties have all agreed on it.
Kahtan, however, listed several reservations. He said the opposition rejects the draft proposal's call for the formation of a national unity government within seven days of the signing of a deal and wants to see Saleh step down first.
"We would have to swear an oath to Saleh, who has already lost his legitimacy," he explained. They are also against giving Yemen's parliament — dominated by Saleh's party — the power to approve or reject his resignation, which opens to the door to allowing the president time to stall.
Mohammed al-Sabri, another spokesman of the opposition, said that if the parties sign the initiative it does not mean that the mass protests will come to a quick end. "We don't represent everybody in the squares. We only represent the political parties," he said.
A spokesman for the youth movement that is one of the key organizers of street protests said any deal that protects him from prosecution is unacceptable.
He should be held responsible for the killings of protesters and corruption, said Khaled al-Ansi. "The youth of the revolution reject any initiative that gives immunity to the president, who collaborated in killings of civilians and in corruption," he said. "The GCC initiative is actually violating the basic principles of justice."
State TV announced the president's acceptance of the deal and said Yemen's foreign minister delivered the government's response to mediators on Saturday.
The foreign minister of the United Arab Emirates, Sheik Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, met in the Emirati capital Saturday with his Yemeni counterpart, Abu Bakr al-Qirbi, and urged him to accept the GCC plan, the official UAE news agency WAM reported.
Protests continued throughout the day and expanded to include a general strike.
Schools, government offices and private companies shut their doors in response to the Yemeni opposition's call for a strike aimed at putting more pressure Saleh to step down.
Thousands of protesters kept up sit-ins at city squares in at least five provinces, while Saleh accused the opposition of "dragging the country into a civil war" in a televised speech to a military academy.
Saleh has over the past two months used violence to try to quell the unrest. He has also offered concessions, including a pledge not to run again for president when his term is up in 2013 or allow his son to succeed him, but to no avail.
김희광 기자 april4241@naver.com
