SANAA: Yemen's main southern opposition leader, Hassan Baoum, was released from jail along with his son just hours after the formation of a transitional unity government, a family member told AFP in Sanaa.
Baoum and his son Fawaz were arrested on February 20 in Yemen's southern port city Aden, where they had planned to join an anti-government protest. They were freed late on Wednesday.
"My father and brother Fawaz were both released in Sanaa," said Fadi Baoum, another son of the southern opposition leader.
Baoum heads the supreme council of the Southern Movement whose members call for either independence or increased autonomy from north Yemen.
He has been arrested on several occasions by the central government.
Baoum's release came just hours after Prime Minister-designate Mohammed Basindawa, a southerner himself, announced the formation of a transitional unity government that will lead Yemen until February, when Vice President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi is formerly elected to the presidency.
Hadi, another southerner, was given temporary presidential powers and asked to form a unity government after President Ali Abdullah Saleh signed a Gulf-sponsored initiative aimed at ensuring a smooth transition of power in Yemen after months of mass anti-government protests.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.