SANA’A: Yemen’s president removed the commander of the elite Republican Guard, a key political foe, from the military yesterday, state television reported, in an apparent move to unify the divided armed forces under his own control.
Yemeni television read out a series of orders by President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi appointing Brigadier General Ahmed Ali Abdullah Saleh, who is the son of Hadi’s predecessor, former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, as ambassador to the UAE.
In December, Hadi dramatically restructured the military to curb the influence of those linked to the toppled strongman.
He scrapped the elite Republican Guard that Ahmed Abdullah Saleh had commanded and removed Saleh’s nephew, Yehya, from his powerful post as deputy chief of central security.
Hadi took the reins of power last year, after the elder Saleh stepped down under a power transition agreement mediated by the Gulf Cooperation Council, following a year-long uprising against his rule. Yesterday’s appointments were part of the restructuring process. Two other influential members of the Saleh family were also appointed to diplomatic posts, the television said.
General Tareq Mohammed Abdullah Saleh, who had commanded the ex-president’s personal guard, and Ammar Mohammed Abdallah Saleh, who had been deputy chief of national security were given the embassies in Germany and Ethiopia, respectively. The appointments come as the ex-president is in Saudi Arabia for medical treatment.
He spent time recovering in a Riyadh hospital in June 2011 after a bomb attack on his compound seriously wounded him.
Hadi has vowed to unify the army, which is divided between allies and opponents of Ali Abdullah Saleh, who stepped down in a Gulf-brokered deal in 2012 after a year of protests against his rule, but still looms large in Yemen.
Gulf neighbours and Western nations fear the wily leader’s continuing influence, not least through his powerful son, could tip a delicate political transition into chaos. Restoring stability in Yemen has become a priority for the US and its Gulf allies, concerned about Al Qaeda-linked militants operating in a country that adjoins top oil exporter Saudi Arabia and overlooks major global shipping lanes.
The television said Hadi had also appointed General Ali Mohsen Al Ahmar, commander of the First Armoured Division, as a presidential adviser for military affairs. Ahmar is a rival of Ahmed Saleh’s and sided with his father’s opponents in the political crisis of 2011, backing activists who took to the streets demanding that President Saleh step down.
AFP/Reuters
