Saleh announces Yemen unity plan

Yemen's president Sunday said his deputy would form a unity government aimed at ending the political violence wracking the African nation. President Ali Abdullah Saleh said the new government would be formed in accordance with a plan drawn up by the Gulf Cooperation Council and would include Saleh's resignation and immunity from subsequent prosecution. The program will be overseen by Saleh's top deputy, Abdu Rabu Ansour Hadi. The new government will be sworn in by Hadi rather than Saleh, and Hadi will oversee the two-year transition period, Gulf News said. The goal is to mollify opposition groups that have clashed with Saleh's forces. A government spokesman told reporters Sunday the unity plan would only work with the cooperation of opposition leaders. Meanwhile, confrontations continued in Yemen, where Gulf News said thousands of demonstrators marched through Sanaa to protest a government crackdown in Taiz that left 14 people dead and dozens injured Friday.