Yemeni foreign minister says unrest could delay presidential elections slated for next month

By Associated Press,

January 17, 2012

CAIRO — Yemen’s foreign minister has suggested that next month’s presidential elections could be delayed due to the turmoil roiling the nation.

The suggestion by a veteran of President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s regime is likely to enrage protesters who have been demanding for the past year that the leader of 33 years hand over power and be put on trial.

In an interview aired Tuesday on Al-Arabiya TV, Foreign Minister Abu Bakr al-Qirbi said “it will be difficult to have elections on February 21” if the security situation is not resolved.

Saleh recently agreed to step down under intense international pressure, but the opposition accuses him of allowing al-Qaida-linked militants to seize control of cities and towns to bolster his claims that he must remain in power to secure the country.