Shiekh Hamid Al-Ahmar In-Laws Resign from Ruling Party

By Fatik Al-Rodaini

Sana'a- Mar 5, 2011- At least five people, including two businessmen, on Saturday announced their resignation from Yemen's ruling General People Congress party, GPC.

Ali Al-Imrani, an MP from Al-Baida province, and Fathi Tawfiq Abdulrahim, head of the finance committee of the Yemeni parliament, resigned from the GPC on Saturday.

Sheikhs Sam Yahya Al-Ahmar, the deputy culture minister, and Hashid Abdullah Al-Ahmar, the deputy minister for youth and sports and Nabil Al-Khameri, a businessman, have also quit the ruling party.

This brings the number of resigned ruling party MPs to 13 since the wave of protests against Ali Abdullah Saleh's rule began.

Al-Ahmar resignation comes a week after his brother Hussein Abdullah Al-Ahmar had left the party.

They attributed their resignation to the current political situation in Yemen, and to the negative aspect of the Yemen's authorities in which they treated protesters harshly.