Yemen car blast kills 26 as Hadi sworn in
Source: Agencies |
February 26, 2012, Sunday
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Print Edition
A SUICIDE car bomb claimed by al-Qaida killed at least 26 people outside a presidential palace in southern Yemen yesterday, hours after Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi was sworn as Yemen's new president with the job of bringing stability to an increasingly chaotic nation.
The car was driven at a palace in the port city of Mukalla, Yemen's fourth-largest city, far from the capital Sanaa where Hadi was sworn in. Dozens were injured, and the governor of Hadramout Province said most of the dead were members of the national army, the Republican Guard.
"Al-Qaida is responsible for the suicide bombing in Mukalla in retaliation for the Republican Guard's crimes," an al-Qaida source said. Sanaa, scene of much fighting in recent months between factions of the army supporting protesters and units loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, was relatively quiet, however.
After taking the oath, Hadi had singled out al-Qaida, whose active Arabian Peninsula branch is based in Yemen, as a top priority for his new administration: "Continuing the war against al-Qaida is a national and religious duty."
The former army general was elected as the sole candidate to replace Saleh, who had led Yemen for three decades but was pushed out by months of street protests sparked by the Arab Spring, and supervise a transition to democracy.
While the street protests and bouts of bloody repression by security forces have subsided, Yemen remains in turmoil from mass poverty, unemployment and corruption, rebellions in the north and south, and the threat from al-Qaida.
Saudi Arabia and the United States long saw Saleh as the main bulwark against al-Qaida in Yemen, which sits on one of the world's main oil shipping routes, but threw their weight behind a power transfer deal as protests against him grew.
Hadi now has the job of overseeing a two-year political transition that foresees parliamentary elections, a new constitution and a restructuring of the military, in which Saleh's son and nephew still hold power.
Hadi's inauguration ceremony is scheduled for tomorrow. Saleh, who returned to Yemen early yesterday after seeking treatment in the US for injuries suffered in an assassination attempt last year, is due to attend.
The car was driven at a palace in the port city of Mukalla, Yemen's fourth-largest city, far from the capital Sanaa where Hadi was sworn in. Dozens were injured, and the governor of Hadramout Province said most of the dead were members of the national army, the Republican Guard.
"Al-Qaida is responsible for the suicide bombing in Mukalla in retaliation for the Republican Guard's crimes," an al-Qaida source said. Sanaa, scene of much fighting in recent months between factions of the army supporting protesters and units loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, was relatively quiet, however.
After taking the oath, Hadi had singled out al-Qaida, whose active Arabian Peninsula branch is based in Yemen, as a top priority for his new administration: "Continuing the war against al-Qaida is a national and religious duty."
The former army general was elected as the sole candidate to replace Saleh, who had led Yemen for three decades but was pushed out by months of street protests sparked by the Arab Spring, and supervise a transition to democracy.
While the street protests and bouts of bloody repression by security forces have subsided, Yemen remains in turmoil from mass poverty, unemployment and corruption, rebellions in the north and south, and the threat from al-Qaida.
Saudi Arabia and the United States long saw Saleh as the main bulwark against al-Qaida in Yemen, which sits on one of the world's main oil shipping routes, but threw their weight behind a power transfer deal as protests against him grew.
Hadi now has the job of overseeing a two-year political transition that foresees parliamentary elections, a new constitution and a restructuring of the military, in which Saleh's son and nephew still hold power.
Hadi's inauguration ceremony is scheduled for tomorrow. Saleh, who returned to Yemen early yesterday after seeking treatment in the US for injuries suffered in an assassination attempt last year, is due to attend.
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