Al Houthis welcome new Yemen prime minister

Sana’a: Yemen’s president on Monday appointed Khalid Bahah, the Arab country’s envoy to the United Nations, as prime minister, in a move welcomed by the Al Houthi group which now controls the capital Sana’a.

An aide to President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi said Bahah’s name had been among three proposed last week by the Al Houthi group after they rejected the earlier appointment of Ahmad Awad bin Mubarak as prime minister. Bahah’s appointment is expected to help ease a political crisis triggered by Al Houthis’ capture of Sana’a last month.

Bahah, who was born in 1965 and was educated at India’s University of Pune, served previously as oil minister before being appointed Yemen’s envoy to the United Nations.

His appointment comes under a power-sharing deal signed last month by Al Houthis and other major political parties at Hadi’s presidential palace. The deal aims to bring Al Houthis and the wing of a separatist group into a more inclusive government.

Al Houthis, who have their main stronghold in the northern highlands of Yemen, alarmed top world oil exporter Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Arab states when they seized Sana’a after defeating forces loyal to an army general they accuse of being linked to a rival Sunni party.

Al Houthis, who now control all aspects of life in Sana’a, have refused to leave the city until a new government is formed.

The United States and other Western and Gulf countries are worried that continued instability in Yemen could strengthen Al Qaida. They have supported a UN-backed political transition since 2012 led by Hadi that is meant to shepherd Yemen to stability after decades of autocracy.