{{Yemen’s president removed his predecessor’s son and nephews from powerful security posts on Wednesday in the most dramatic step yet in sidelining old regime figures, according to the nation’s state-run media.}}<\/p>\n
Former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who stepped down in early 2012 after more than a year of protests against his rule, placed relatives and loyalists in top military and government posts over his 33-year rule.<\/p>\n
They have been accused of obstructing the U.S.-backed government as it tries to reform and fight an active al-Qaida branch in the impoverished Arab nation.<\/p>\n
Fireworks went off in the capital, Sanaa, and Yemen’s second largest city, Taiz, after the announcement. Restructuring the army was a top demand by Yemenis after Saleh’s ouster.<\/p>\n
His vice president, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, took over in a power transfer deal brokered by Yemen’s powerful Gulf neighbors and backed by the United States. <\/p>\n
Hadi has since been trying to remove former regime loyalists over concerns that Saleh was using them to further destabilize the turmoil-wracked country.<\/p>\n
Washington has expressed concern that some in the military have been taking advantage of their positions for personal gain to interfere in the country’s transition, since regime change threatens their personal interests. <\/p>\n
The U.N. Security Council warned Saleh directly that he could face sanctions if attempts to undermine the new national unity government persist.<\/p>\n
In his latest move, Hadi not only removed Saleh’s son and two nephews from their posts, but also effectively ordered them to leave the country by posting them abroad.<\/p>\n
He removed Saleh’s son Ahmed as head of the Republican Guard and appointed him ambassador to the United Arab Emirates. <\/p>\n
The force is an elite army unit that was once the backbone of Saleh’s rule.<\/p>\n
It was supposed to be reorganized and brought under the control of the Defense Ministry according to Hadi’s orders last year, but those changes had not materialized on the ground.<\/p>\n
Agencies<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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