Yemen’s interim government lineup agreed: opposition

SANAA

Yemen’s political opposition and the party of outgoing President Ali Abdullah Saleh have agreed to the lineup of an interim government to lead the country to an early election next year, an opposition official told Reuters yesterday.

Under the agreement, Saleh’s party will keep the defense, foreign and oil ministries, while opposition parties will take charge of the ministries of the interior, international cooperation, information and finance, said the official who did not want to be named. Yemeni government forces meanwhile shelled the city of Taiz, killing at least five civilians, residents and medics said yesterday.

After the shelling, gunmen allied with opposition parties clashed with government forces, killing five soldiers and wounding 15 others, a security source said. Saleh was eased out of office last week under a Gulf-brokered plan, after 10 months of anti-government protests, handing power to his deputy.

 The plan’s sponsors hope it will halt a slide into civil war on the doorstep of the world’s biggest oil exporter, Saudi Arabia, and prevent al Qaeda’s regional branch from jeopardising shipping routes through the Red Sea.