Almotamar.net - The Yemeni Foreign Minister Dr Abu Bakr al-Qirbi has said that President Ali Abdullah Saleh would not leave power but via the ballot box and that Yemen would descend into civil war if he was forced to step down.

Al-Qirbi said, �President Saleh had made that clear and had said repeatedly he is ready to transfer power at any time but through early elections via the ballot box and by commitment to the constitution.�

He added that the issue now is that the ruling party to agree with the opposition parties on a date for early elections.

In an interview to Reuters news agency published Wednesday al-Qirbi said the timetable for the transfer of power defined by agreement mediated by the Gulf States and Washington was not realistic. Saying, �This timetable has been proved difficult for implementation. It is not possible that we hold the elections in 60 days. Therefore if the President Saleh resigned after thirty days and was not possible to hold elections within 60 days there would have been constitutional vacuum in the country.�

Al-Qirbi added that the President did not cancel the agreement and all the matter is that the timetable for implementation needs reconsideration.

The Yemeni minister said his government was trying to start dialogue with the opposition parties for the purpose of agreeing on realistic date, implementable for the elections under supervision of international and regional observers. He added that the political crisis cost Yemen economy approximately $ 5 billion made tourists and investors abstain and led to increase of the budget deficit. He said Yemen has been forced to import petrol and diesel with a high cost.

The minister said, �Our oil exports stopped for three to four months because of attacks on oil pipelines and we were compelled to import large quantities of benzene and diesel.� He added,� We are in a very difficult position and we are trying to come out of it with a solution that must be political and must be a Yemeni solution. We have now to rescue out country.�

Al-Qirbi mentioned that al-Qaeda organisation is the biggest beneficiary from the chaos in Yemen,� adding that the organisation mobilized its members and attempted to take control of Abyan province in the south. He said the political the crisis in Yemen prepares the suitable climate the extremists and al-Qaeda organisation. He said the failure in reaching a political agreement would lead to a catastrophe.

He said there are several visions of what would happen and regretfully the worst of them is the eruption of a civil war and maybe disuniting the country.

He went on to say, �I think most of the people do not want a civil war and not to see Yemen divided but that would actually depend on prevalence of wisdom among policy makers on both sides; the government side and the opposition side.�