Yemen's president playing for time

The pressure on Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh reached a new high after his followers shot more than 50 demonstrators on Friday. On Wednesday Saleh offered to hold fresh elections in the course of the year. But that's nothing more than delaying tactics, writes the liberal daily The Independent: "Washington's classic regional ambivalence over the choice between stability and democracy appears to have reached a tipping point after the massacre of protesters. Saleh, who has received millions in US aid for his co-operation in the fight against Islamic militants, is on the point of being abandoned. The Yemeni president has remained defiant, insisting that he cannot stand down without knowing who will replace him, which is why he says he won't go until after elections. The problem is that Saleh has tried such ruses before. …The genuine participation by all sides in an open and transparent process that addresses the concerns of the Yemeni people is now required. Al-Qa'ida has thrived in Yemen in opposition to the US-backed autocracy. Here, as in other parts of the Arab world, democracy is the best antidote to al-Qa'ida."

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