Ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh pulls party from new Yemen government
Ex-president dismisses UN sanctions against him as nation slides deeper into chaos
Yemen's ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh dismissed UN sanctions against him and senior Huthi rebel chiefs, pulling his party from a new cabinet and plunging the country into deeper chaos.
Saleh's move came as al-Qaeda claimed it had killed dozens of Shiite rebels and tried to assassinate the US ambassador, and the rebels also rejected the new government announced on Friday.
Yemen has been dogged by instability since an Arab spring-inspired uprising forced Saleh from power in 2012, with the Huthi rebels and al-Qaeda seeking to fill the power vacuum.
The turmoil has raised fears that the Arabian Peninsula nation, which lies on the key shipping route from the Suez Canal to the Gulf, may become a failed state.
The new cabinet was formed shortly before the UN Security Council on Friday slapped sanctions against the influential Saleh and two rebel commanders for threatening peace. The US-proposed UN measures included a visa ban and asset freeze.
The Huthis are widely thought to be backed by Saleh, with Washington accusing him of being "behind the attempts to cause chaos throughout Yemen" by using them to weaken the government and "create enough instability to stage a coup".