ARAB NEWS: SANAA, Yemen: The US, European and Gulf Arab ambassadors were trapped inside a diplomatic mission Sunday by an armed mob angry over a deal for Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down after 32 years in power.
Prospects that Saleh would sign the pact as promised were thrown into doubt.
Wielding knives, daggers and swords, hundreds of Saleh loyalists blocked the entrances to the United Arab Emirates Embassy, where at least five ambassadors were gathered in expectation the embattled leader would arrive to sign the deal.
“Everybody is worried. We can’t leave the embassy,” said a Saudi diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject.
Pro-Saleh militiamen dressed in traditional Yemeni dress roamed the streets of the capital, especially outside embassies, and blocked the road to the presidential palace. » | Ahmed Al-Haj | AP | Sunday, May 22, 2011
