Yemeni parties agree on new PM as step to ease crisis

SANAA: Yemeni parties agreed on Tuesday to appoint an associate of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi as Prime Minister, two aides of Hadi said, a move some Yemenis hope will lead to the withdrawal of Shia Muslim fighters from the capital Sanaa.

Hadi was expected to ask Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak, the director of his office, later on Tuesday to form a government, the aides said, under an accord between the president and several parties, including the Shia Houthi movement, intended to create a more inclusive administration.

Yemen was plunged into crisis last month when the Houthis battled troops loyal to an army general seen as close to a rival, Sunni Muslim, group.

Government institutions quickly fell into Houthi hands, allowing the group, whose members belong to the Zaydi branch of Shia Islam, to become power brokers in Yemen.

State news agency SABA confirmed that a committee of Hadi's advisors, representing various political parties, had met in Sanaa and on Tuesday "identified the figure" who fits the criteria for a new Prime Minister, but did not name any person.

Bin Mubarak, who holds a doctorate in business administration from Baghdad University, was born in 1968 in the southern Yemeni port city of Aden. He previously served as a consultant for international projects in Yemen before becoming director of the presidential office.

In March last year, bin Mubarak served as secretary general of Yemen's "conference of national dialogue", comprising representatives of all political parties and civic groups which Hadi had convened to map out reforms.

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