Opposition leader backs southerner for Yemen's top job

Sana'a: Rising Yemeni opposition politician Shaikh Hamed Al Ahmar, seen as a potential presidential successor, says he is not aiming for the top job and thinks the country's next leader should come from the south.

Electing a southerner to succeed President Ali Abdullah Saleh when his term ends in 2013 could go a long way toward calming rising secessionist sentiment there, said Al Ahmar who like the president hails from the north.

"Us Yemenis in the north have to show those in the south that we are in favour of unity. We need to leave them [southerners] the opportunity to lead Yemen," he told Reuters.

President Saleh, in over three decades at Yemen's helm, oversaw the unification of north and south Yemen in 1990 and survived a civil war four years later that was sparked by an attempt from southern leaders to break away.

His current term ends in 2013 and Al Ahmar, a business tycoon whose criticism of the government over the past year has made him increasingly popular in Yemen, is seen as a leading contender to succeed him.

Tribal factor

But Al Ahmar cited his tribal ties to the country's ruler as a reason not to pursue the presidency, saying those links could dent people's faith in him.

Al Ahmar belongs to the same tribal federation as Saleh and the two share the Al Ahmar name, although they are not directly related. He did not rule out serving in the top post, but said it was not his aim.

Secessionist sentiment in the south still simmers, with violence on the rise in recent months. But it is only one of many challenges in Yemen, which is also trying to cement a truce with northern rebels and quash a resurgent Yemen-based Al Qaida arm.

Yemen has been a Western security concern since a Yemen-based Al Qaida arm claimed responsibility for a failed December attempt to bomb a US-bound plane.

Yemen's Western allies and Saudi Arabia fear a resurgent Al Qaida wing could exploit unrest to use Yemen as a base for destabilising attacks in the region and beyond. They want the government to resolve internal conflict and consolidate power.

Al Ahmar dismissed warnings that Yemen, next to top oil exporter Saudi Arabia, could descend into chaos like nearby Somalia if its political situation remained unresolved.

Like many in Yemen's opposition movement, he said he was sceptical an unprecedented charm offensive launched by Saleh to woo opponents would yield concrete concessions on political and social reforms. But he said dialogue should be given a chance.