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Yemen: Former presidential adviser calls for GCC intervention | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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In this photo provided by Yemen’s Defense Ministry, Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, center, listens to military commanders at the Defense Ministry complex after an explosion at the complex in Sanaa, Yemen, on Thursday, Dec. 5, 2013. (AP)


In this photo provided by Yemen's Defense Ministry, Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, center, listens to military commanders at the Defense Ministry complex after an explosion at the complex in Sanaa, Yemen, on Thursday, Dec. 5, 2013.  (AP)

In this photo provided by Yemen’s Defense Ministry, Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi (C), listens to military commanders at the Defense Ministry complex after an explosion at the complex in Sana’a, Yemen, on December 5, 2013. (AP)

Sana’a, Asharq Al-Awsat—As the security situation in Yemen continues to worsen, former Yemeni presidential adviser Salem Saleh has called on Saudi Arabia and the Arab Gulf to take action to “rescue the country from its bitter reality.”

In exclusive comments to Asharq Al-Awsat, Saleh appealed to “President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi and our brothers in Saudi Arabia, the Arab Gulf and the international community to take the situation in Yemen into account and intervene in order to rescue Yemen.”

The comments by Salem Saleh, who was an adviser to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, come in the wake of a number of Al-Qaeda-related suicide attacks targeting security forces in the country, including most recently an attack on a police headquarters in Aden that killed at least three security officers. Suspected Al-Qaeda elements also assassinated a key Yemeni intelligence officer Col. Marwan Al-Maqabil earlier this week.

Saleh described the Aden bombing as a “heinous criminal act,” adding that the target was not just the Yemeni security headquarters, but also the nearby UN headquarters, the German consulate, and civilian residential complexes.

The former Yemeni official urged the president to “take effective measures” against terrorism and secure “support for the Yemeni military from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).”

Saleh also called on the six GCC member states—Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain and Qatar—to “interact with the closest people to them, their neighbors and brothers in Yemen.”

He slammed authorities in Yemen for failing to identify those who are “involved in the crimes,” asking President Hadi to “either adopt a clear position or courageously resign and give responsibility to those who can handle it.”

As for his expectations for the National Dialogue, Saleh told Asharq Al-Awsat: “We have to admit that what is happening in reality is one thing and what is happening at the National Dialogue is something else.”

“We wish this conference success, but we have to take deterring and rapid measures towards what is happening,” he added.

Commenting on accusations that former President Saleh is responsible for the violence, the former presidential adviser affirmed that Yemen’s politicians are seeking to lay the blame for their own mistakes on the former administration.

Responding to a question about how Yemen can resolve the crisis, Saleh said: “The solution is for Saudi Arabia and the GCC countries to support the Yemeni military, similar to what they did in Lebanon.”