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Yemen's vice president forms military committee

Xinhua, December 5, 2011

• Yemeni acting President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi issued Sunday a republican decree, forming a military committee to reconstruct the army and security units in line with a Gulf-brokered power-transfer deal, state-run Saba news agency reported.

  "Based on the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) initiative and its implementing mechanism, Vice President Hadi issued a republican decree, forming the Military Affairs Committee for achieving security and stability," Saba cited an official statement as saying.

  "The committee is chaired by Hadi and it consists of 15 military members from the opposition coalition and the ruling party," the statement added.

  Officials from the ruling party and the opposition coalition said the main task of the newly-formed committee is to reconstruct the army and security units during the two-year interim period after outgoing President Ali Abdullah Saleh steps down under the GCC deal which he signed on Nov. 23.

  It will also work to put an end to all ongoing violence between rival forces and supervise the withdrawal of troops and opposition- led defected army and armed tribal men from the streets of all provincial capitals, as well as other operational, procedural and policy matters related to the country's armed and security forces.

  It was the third move taken by Hadi to implement the GCC initiative after he set early presidential elections for Feb. 21, 2012, and named new Prime Minister Mohamed Basindwa to lead the transitional national reconciliation government.

  The committee, made up of seven members from each rival part, in addition to Hadi, includes defense and interior ministers of Basindwa's upcoming cabinet, which was due to be declared within 48 hours according to an official at Hadi's office, who told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

  The committee also includes defected general Abdullah Ali Aliwa, former defense minister who joint the anti-government protest movement in March.

  On Saturday, the opposition leaders urged Hadi not to delay the composition of the military-security committee which should be formed before the declaration of the new cabinet according to the GCC deal.

  The opposition coalition and the ruling party agreed late last month on the GCC deal designed to end the 11-month-long turmoil that brought the impoverished Arab state on the verge of civil war and economic collapse.

  According to the deal, Saleh will retain a title of honorary president in 90 days after the signing.

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