SANA’A: Yemeni delegates yesterday were close to agreement on the shape of a future federal state to settle a long-standing dispute over the south’s status, sources close to a national dialogue said.
But the sealing of a deal was postponed after ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh’s two representatives walked out of a 16-member committee handling the north-south issue, refusing to sign an agreed document.
Committee members were to sign the accord to achieve a “just solution that would preserve the security and stability of a united Yemen on a federal and democratic basis,” according to the text of the document. “We were supposed to sign the agreement today (Monday) but that has been postponed,” committee spokesman Mohammed Qahtan said.
Foreign Minister Abu Bakr Al Kurbi said last week that participants in the reconciliation talks had agreed on the principle of changing the Arab republic into a federal state. But differences remain on the number of regions.
Southern delegates to the dialogue have been demanding a federal state consisting of north and south Yemen, while northerners are proposing more than two entities, according to the sources close to the talks. In yesterday’s document, the regions would have broad administrative, executive, legislative and economic powers.
AFP
