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    December 10, 2011

Yemen Swears In Unity Government

   VOA News
   Yemen's newly appointed Prime Minister Mohammed Salem Basindwa (front
   L) takes the oath of office in front of Vice President Abd-Rabbu
   Mansour Hadi (R) at the Republican Palace in Sana'a December 10, 2011.
   Photo: Reuters
   Yemen's newly appointed Prime Minister Mohammed Salem Basindwa (front
   L) takes the oath of office in front of Vice President Abd-Rabbu
   Mansour Hadi (R) at the Republican Palace in Sana'a, December 10, 2011.

   Yemen's new unity government is in place, tasked with guiding the
   volatile country toward a critical presidential election in February.
   The state-run Saba news agency said the unity government was officially
   sworn-in Saturday in the capital, Sana'a. The Reuters news agency
   reports the new government then met for the first time, chaired by
   Yemeni Vice President Abd al-Rabuh Mansur Hadi.
   The new 35-member Cabinet itself is being headed by veteran politician
   Mohammed Basindwa. The ministerial posts are equally divided between
   President Ali Abdullah Saleh's party and the opposition. Basindwa is
   from the opposition.
   Saleh loyalists will run the ministries of defense, foreign affairs and
   oil, while the opposition will head the ministries of interior, finance
   and information.
   Saturday's swearing-in brings Yeminis one step closer to ridding
   themselves of President Saleh, who ruled for 33 years. Even though
   Saleh is no longer running the government, a deal sponsored by Gulf
   nations under which he was forced to resign, allows him to remain
   president in an honorary capacity until the election.
   Despite the deal removing Saleh from power, thousands of Yemenis have
   been taking to the streets in the capital to express their displeasure
   with the arrangement. Many are particularly critical of the immunity he
   was granted under the deal.
   Hundreds of people have been killed in violent protests since Yemenis
   first started pushing for change earlier this year. Many of those
   opposed to Saleh say they want him to stand trial in Yemen for possible
   crimes.

   Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
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