Sacked Yemeni general finally quits

Sana'a: Yemen's sacked air force commander, who has refused to quit for weeks, gave in to pressure on Tuesday and agreed to hand over to his successor.

Mohammed Saleh Al Ahmar, a half-brother of former Yemeni leader Ali Abdullah Saleh , quit his position in the presence of the UN special envoy to Yemen Jamal Bin Omar, ending weeks of rebellion. General Rashed Ali Nasser Al Jund replaced him. Al Ahmar has beeen appointed as an assistant to the defence minister.

Bin Omar told reporters in the capital that the handover took place within the frame work of the presidential decree. On April 6, President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi issued a decree in which he sacked many generals loyal to the former leader, including Saleh's half-brother and nephew Tareq Mohammad Abdullah Saleh, the commander of the presidential Guard. General Al Ahmar refused Hadi's decision and subsequently closed Sana'a airport. Also, Tareq refused to take over his new position.

52 militants killed

Yemen's ministry of defence said on Tuesday air raids have killed at least 52 Al Qaida militants in the last couple of days in the lawless province of Abyan and the government forces are moving towards completely clearing Al Qaida-held city of Zinjibar.

Quoting a security source, the ministry website reported that 46 militants were killed in the ongoing clashes with troops while six others killed by air strikes on Monday.

The source said that the government jets stuck on Monday a car carrying a group of militants in southern province of Shabwa, killing three militant leaders; Mohammed Al Daghari, Hassan Al Daghari and Ali Al Qumishi. The website claimed that the troops advanced towards the centre of Zinjibar, the capital of Abyan, and tens of Al Qaida fighters fled the battleground.

Also in the south, Abd Kader Al Shami, chief intelligence officer, escaped an assassination attempt in the province of Lahj, when unidentified suspects tossed a bomb at his car.