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August 6, 2012 Xinhua
Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour
Hadi on Monday made a major military reform of divided army by dismantling the
rival forces into new unified forms that aimed to secure a successful political
reconciliation the troubled country has already struggling to achieve.
In a republican decree carried by
the state Saba news agency, the president downsized the brigades of the
Republican Guard by seven brigades, while reduced its rival First Armored
Division by five brigades.
He transferred the operational and
financial authority of four of the dismissed brigades, three brigades from the
Republican Guard and one from the 1st Armored Division, to a newly-formed
Presidential Protective Forces.
For the remaining dismissed
brigades, President Hadi transferred their operational, financial and control
authority to regional commands across the country.
The step is part of a UN-backed
power transfer deal that replaced former President Ali Abdullah Saleh with his
then deputy Hadi in February this year after a yearlong of deadly street
protests against the long-time ruler.
The Republican Guard commanded by
elder son of ousted Saleh, while the First Armored Division headed by General
Ali Mohsen al- Ahmar, who last year defected and joined mass protests against
Saleh after anti-government protesters clashed with forces loyal to the former
leader last year.
Restructuring the armed forces
remains the focal point of Hadi who seeks to ensure a successful political
reconciliation and pave the way for holding a national dialogue that planned
for November and aimed at ending disputes between all political forces in order
to focus efforts on fighting al-Qaida branch.
On April 6, Hadi issued a
republican decree, replacing about 20 military generals, including several
relative and loyalists to former President Saleh.
Meanwhile, thousands of Yemeni
protesters rallied almost every day in Sanaa and other provinces, calling for
the removal of Saleh 's son Ahmed Ali as chief of Yemen's elite Republican
Guard. The protesters demanded Ahmed Ali's dismissal as the precondition for
them to engage in the national reconciliation.
