Yemen’s President Ali Abdullah Saleh has virtually stopped working to show his anger about Israel's siege in the West Bank, a Yemeni official said Tuesday.
Saleh has refused to meet with foreign officials or grant interviews since Sunday, delegating his vice president to receive calls and foreign dignitaries, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Vice President Abd Rabbo Mansour met with Belgian Defense Minister Andre Flahaut on Tuesday instead of Saleh, the official added, according to AP.
The President has limited himself to receiving daily reports from his secretariat regarding developments in the Palestinian territories, the official said.
Yemeni newspapers published word of what they described as the president's withdrawal from public life on their front pages. The Yemeni official told AP News Agency that Saleh was "frustrated and sad" because Arabs have been unable to protect the Palestinian people.
The president suspended his regular activities in protest of "the silence of some Arab leaders, whose countries have diplomatic ties" with Israel. He did not specify which leaders, however Egypt, Jordan and Mauritania have diplomatic relations with Israel. He has called for those ties to be severed and for convocation of an emergency Arab summit. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
