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U.S. Joins U.K. to seek UN action pressing Yemen’s Saleh to quit

The U.S., U.K. and France are discussing a possible draft resolution in the United Nations Security Council to increase pressure on President Ali Abdullah Saleh of Yemen to step down.

The text, being prepared by the three permanent members of the 15-member Security Council, would urge Saleh to follow through with a transition process outlined by the Gulf Cooperation Council nations, according to two Western diplomats who weren’t authorized to publicly discuss the talks.

Action by the UN on Yemen would wait until a resolution passes seeking to halt the Syrian government’s crackdown on protests, the diplomats said.

The Gulf Arab nations put forward in April a proposal for Saleh to hand over power. He has been on the brink of signing the accord three times.

Saleh returned to the country on Sept. 24 following more than three months of recuperation in Saudi Arabia after he was injured in an attack on his compound. Violence in Yemen has escalated in the past two weeks with daily protests in the capital and other cities demanding Saleh’s immediate ouster.

-- Editors: Terry Atlas, Steven Komarow

To contact the reporters on this story: Flavia Krause-Jackson at the United Nations at fjacksonbloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Mark Silva at msilva34bloomberg.net