Presidential decrees in the next two days

By Fatik al-Rodaini

SANA'A, April 9, 2012 - An informed source revealed that President Abdu Rabbo Mansour Hadi would issue significant decrees aiming to bring real reforms in the country.

A Yemeni official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that the expected decisions would include transferring of a military and civilian personal to new positions as part of the ongoing political transition in Yemen.

The decisions would include changes in security and army apparatuses along with transferring in positions of governors.

Last Friday President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi fired several old-regime figures and relatives of the former leader in a major shake-up of the country's military, a move meant to show he was making good on promises of reforms in the wake of his predecessor's ouster.

A statement by President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi said four governors and more than a dozen military generals were sacked "to make way for new officials."

The shake-up came against the backdrop of growing concerns that Yemen's former President Ali Abdullah Saleh was using the loyalists to further destabilize the turmoil-wracked country. The move also came as hundreds of thousands of Yemenis took to the streets Friday demanding that Hadi purge the military of Saleh's relatives.

Among those sacked were some of Saleh's relatives, including his half brother who was the Air Force commander, and his nephew, who headed the presidential guard. In his more than 30 years as president, Saleh had stacked key security posts with relatives and loyalists.

Hadi also sacked a brother-in-law to Saleh's daughter who had headed a lucrative oil products distribution company, which was seen as an arm of the former president's vast economic wealth.

Saleh had clung to office during last year's uprising against his rule until he eventually signed a U.S.-backed, Gulf-brokered power transfer deal and handed power over to Hadi, his deputy at the time. The deal allowed Saleh to remain as head of the ruling party and granted him immunity from prosecution in return for leaving the presidency.

The United States welcomed President Abdo Rabo Mansour Hadi's announcement of civilian and military personnel transfers as part of the ongoing political transition in Yemen.