Dubai: Yemeni president Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi appointed Hussain Rasheed Jamal Al Kaf as the country’s new oil minister on Monday, state news agency Saba said.
Hadi replaced several top ministers, including the electricity, finance and foreign ministers, last Wednesday amid rising popular discontent driven in part by power cuts and high prices.
He named Ahmad Abdul Qader Shayyeh as oil minister at the same time but Saba reported on Monday that Shayyeh had declined the post on health grounds.
Domestic insurgencies and a nationwide fight against Al Qaida militants in the country have hit impoverished Yemen’s economy, as oil and water resources decline.
Gulf neighbours and the West fear for the stability of Yemen, which shares a long border with the world’s top oil exporter, Saudi Arabia. Washington has stepped up support for the government and military at the same time it has launched deadly drone strikes on suspected Islamist militants there.
