Yemen PM bin Breik quits, replaced by foreign minister
Yemen’s Saudi-backed presidential leadership council accepted Prime Minister Salem bin Breik’s resignation and appointed Foreign Minister Shaya Mohsen Zindani as the country’s new prime minister.
Bin Breik formally submitted the resignation, which was approved by the council before Zindani is chosen to form the next cabinet, state news agency Saba reported on Thursday.
Yemen has been the source of rising tensions between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in recent months.
The Southern Transitional Council, a UAE-backed separatist group, seized control of areas in southern and eastern Yemen in December and advanced towards the Saudi border, which it sees as a threat to the kingdom’s national security. Saudi-backed fighters have since largely retaken those areas.
Sharp differences on a range of other issues, from geopolitics to oil production, have also caused friction between the two Gulf powers.
Saudi Arabia and the UAE have previously worked together in a coalition fighting the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen’s civil war, which has led to one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
