UN calls on Saleh to hand over power

UNITED NATIONS, Oct 22 (AFP): The UN Security Council Friday passed a resolution calling on Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh to immediately sign a deal under which he would quit. But Yemen's Nobel Peace Prize winner, Tawakkul Karman, criticised the council for not opposing a Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) proposal to give Saleh immunity from prosecution if he signs the deal. "They have to discuss the ousting of Saleh and how he has to be handed over to the International Criminal Court as a war criminal," Karman said outside the Security Council. The resolution, unanimously agreed by the 15 members, "strongly condemns" deadly government attacks on demonstrators and backs the GCC plan under which Saleh would end his 33 years in power. Several hundred people have been killed since protests against Saleh erupted in January. The Security Council called on Saleh to keep a promise to immediately sign the GCC plan and for a peaceful power transition "without further delay". Saleh has repeatedly stalled the GCC initiative that would see him step aside 30 days after it was signed in exchange for immunity from prosecution.