SANA'A — Yemen's power transfer deal, which allowed President Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down, is no longer a suitable model for a solution in Syria, the Turkish foreign minister said at a news conference here Saturday. The Yemeni model has previously been suggested a way to end bloodshed in Syria that has killed some 30,000 people in the last 19 months. Saleh was given immunity from prosecution. “The Yemen solution was suitable for Syria nine months ago,” Ahmet Davutoglu told a news conference in Sana'a with his Yemeni counterpart. “But now, because every country has its own special circumstances and due to the latest developments on the Syrian arena which saw the use of artillery and the air force in bombarding Syrian cities, this has narrowed the room for implementing such solutions.” Saleh handed over his powers to his deputy last year under the power transfer deal but remained as ceremonial president until elections in February, when he stepped down. Davutoglu said Turkey backed calls by UN and Arab League envoy to Syria Lakhdar Brahimi for a ceasefire during the Eid Al-Adha holiday, which starts at the end of this week. Syria has so far given a guarded response to Brahimi's ceasefire proposal, suggesting it wants guarantees that rebels would reciprocate any move by Assad's forces. Brahimi has been criss-crossing the region with the aim of convincing Assad's main backers and his foes to support the idea of a truce during the holiday. The United States, which has been a vocal critic of Assad but has little apparent influence on the ground, threw its weight behind the ceasefire call Friday. “We urge the Syrian government to stop all military operations and call on opposition forces to follow suit,” State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said. The violence has spread across Syria's frontiers. Assad's forces exchanged cross-border artillery fire with Turkey several times this month and Friday a huge car bomb in Beirut killed a top intelligence official whose investigations had implicated Syria in trying to stoke violence on Lebanese soil. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported heavy clashes on the main north-south highway connecting Damascus with Aleppo Saturday. The highway town of Maarat Al-Numan and villages around it in Idlib were shelled, after rebels took the area a week ago. It said a reported 60 people had been killed in Syria by nightfall Saturday. The United States has repeatedly said it believes Assad must step down to allow for a political transition in Syria, and blamed Russia and China for blocking moves at the U.N. Security Council aimed at increasing pressure on his government. — Agencies
