SANAA, Jan 24: A controversial decision to offer immunity to President Ali Abdullah Saleh and his family was the key to ending a political crisis and avoiding civil war, the US ambassador in Sanaa said on Tuesday.

“I think the issue of the immunity ... is not an easy decision; there are many people who feel it is not right to give immunity to someone,” Gerald M Feierstein told a a group of journalists in the Yemeni capital.

“But, based on my own experience and my own involvement in the negotiations to resolve this crisis, I do believe if there had not been an agreement on the immunity, there would not have been an agreement,” he said.—AFP