U.S. pushes for immediate transition in Yemen

A tribesman loyal to tribal leader Sadeq al-Ahmar gestures as he secures a street near al-Ahmar's house in Sanaa June 6, 2011.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States made clear on Monday it hopes the Yemeni government will capitalize on President Ali Abdullah Saleh's absence to start a political transition to end his 32-year rule.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and other U.S. officials said Yemen, which has been brought to the brink of civil war by clashes between pro- and anti-Saleh forces, should begin a nonviolent transition consistent with its constitution.

While they did not provide details, Barbara Bodine, a former U.S. ambassador to Yemen, said the Yemeni constitution provides for the vice president to take over temporarily for up to 60 days, during which new elections should take place.

This could offer a way out of months of turmoil in Yemen sparked by anti-authoritarian unrest in other Arab nations, though it is by no means clear that Vice President Abu-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, now the acting leader, might seek to exercise it, or that Saleh might accept his ouster being brought about in such a manner.

Saleh is in Saudi Arabia for medical treatment after an attack on his palace.

Hadi was quoted as saying on the Saba state news agency that Saleh's health was improving and he "would return to the homeland in the coming days."

Saleh has repeatedly declined to sign a document ceding power, despite promises to do so and pressure from the United States and Saudi Arabia.

'IMMEDIATE TRANSITION'

"We think an immediate transition is in the best interests of the Yemeni people," Clinton said when asked if Saleh should remain abroad.

At a news conference with French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe, Clinton also said "the instability and lack of security currently afflicting Yemen cannot be addressed until there is some process that everyone knows is going to lead to the sort of economic and political reforms that they are seeking."

Diplomats and analysts believe Saleh's stay abroad could be prolonged as Saudi Arabia, the regional heavyweight, tries to broker a power transition to prevent the implosion of its neighbor.

International pressure has mounted on all parties to find a way to end clashes that have accentuated worries that Yemen could become a failed state. The country is home to an al Qaeda wing and neighbors Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter.

Bodine, now at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, said Yemen has held credible elections and that, despite the difficulty, was better placed than many in the region to hold one on short notice.

The Yemeni constitution states: "If the post of the President of the Republic becomes vacant or should the President become permanently disabled, the Vice President temporarily takes over the presidential functions for a period that does not exceed sixty days, during which new elections for the President of the Republic shall take place."

The U.S. stress on a transformation in line with the constitution may simply reflect a desire that the violence stop and that any political change be peaceful.

Bodine and other analysts said U.S. counter-terrorism cooperation against the group Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula will have suffered with the turmoil in recent months and that is likely to persist during a transition to any new government.

"A vacuum has been created and the vacuum is going to continue and it is going to give AQAP far greater running room," Bodine said.

"I don't see anybody in the political process who is going to be pro-AQAP -- we don't have a Taliban-like faction in Yemen that could possibly take over," she added. "But I do think that the government, whatever government, is going to be facing so many other challenges that that is going to slow things down."

(Editing by Eric Walsh)