Yemen’s president refuses to sign deal

YEMENI President Ali Abdullah Saleh refused to sign a transition of power deal yesterday, saying it would push the country toward civil war.

Saleh has said al-Qaida militants could fill a political and security vacuum if he is forced out and, in a televised speech yesterday, blamed the opposition for the deal’s collapse.

“If (Yemen) is engulfed in a civil war, they will be responsible for it and the bloodshed,” he said.