SANA’A: A gunman shot dead the head of a Yemeni liberal political party here yesterday, his family said, as Al Qaeda suspects killed 18 troops and captured 15 others further west.
Secretary General of the Union of Popular Forces party Mohammed Abdulmalik Al Mutawakil was shot dead by a gunman on a motorbike, his daughter Radhia said. Mutawakil was “fatally shot in the neck,” by his assailants who fled, she said. A medical source confirmed the death. It was not immediately clear why Mutawakil was targeted.
Meanwhile, the United Nations envoy to Yemen urged political rivals there to form a new government within days to head off rising “sectarian tensions” in the violence-hit country. Jamal Benomar called for a new lineup to be formed “within a few days”, after weeks of clashes pitting Sunni tribes and Al Qaeda against Shia rebels seeking to expand their territory.
“Recent developments have brought on a new discourse that is xenophobic, sometimes sectarian, and this is a worrying trend,” Benomar said. “This didn’t happen in the past... The only way forward is for all sides to cooperate to establish a new government and to move forward the implementation of the peace partnership agreement” reached on September 21. “Failure to pursue this would mean an increase in sectarian tensions” between Sunnis and Shia, he warned. AFP
