Yemen’s prime minister returns to Aden

Ahmed bin Dagher arrives from Riyadh with seven ministers in move that follows a presidential order shifting the central bank from Sanaa to Aden.

Yemeni security forces guard Aden’s airport on the arrival of prime minister Ahmed bin Dagher and seven ministers from Riyadh on September 22, 2016. Saleh Al Obeidi / AFP

ADEN // Yemen’s premier-in-exile returned home on Thursday along with seven ministers to the southern city of Aden, the temporary capital as rebels continue to rule Sanaa.

Prime minister Ahmed bin Dagher flew from Riyadh to the port city where he said upon arrival that his return was “final”.

His predecessor Khaled Bahah fled Aden in October last year after surviving a bombing attack, only weeks after he had returned with a handful of ministers.

Mr bin Dagher said his return was prompted by president Abdrabu Mansur Hadi’s decision to move the central bank from rebel-held Sanaa to Aden.

His government has 32 ministers. Some are expected to move from Riyadh to Marib, east of Sanaa, a region that is also mostly controlled by loyalists.

The prime minister’s return coincided with the death of three suspected Al Qaeda members in a drone strike on their vehicle in central Bayda province.

The Yemeni president has given no indication of when he will return from exile in Riyadh.

In Sanaa, masked gunmen in the rebels’ national security uniforms rebels dragged the American head of a language school from his office on Tuesday and accused him of spying. The rebels say Peter Willems fed coordinates for air strikes to the Saudi-led coalition fighting Houthi rebels in Yemen.

* Agence France-Presse