Riyadh (South24)

After months of popular protests, the internationally recognized Yemeni president announced, on Saturday evening, the dismissal of the governor of Shabwa Governorate, in South Yemen, Mohammad Saleh bin Adyo, who is loyal to the Islamic Islah Party.

President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi issued two republican decisions, in the first dismissing Ben Adyo from the position of governor and appointing him as an advisor to the president.

Hadi issued another decision, appointing the prominent social figure, Awad Mohammad, Al-Wazir Al-Awlaki, as governor of Shabwa.

The Yemeni president's decision was welcomed by the Yemeni political parties in South.

The Southern Transitional Council STC welcomed the "consensual decision".

The STC spokesman, Ali Al-Kathiri, said that the council stresses "the need for concerted efforts to support him (the new governor) and to address the imbalances that have accumulated in the governorate during the past two years."

The STC stressed the need to move "towards completing the implementation of the remaining provisions of the Riyadh Agreement."

The Riyadh Agreement, which was signed between the Southern Transitional Council and the Hadi government in November 2019, stipulated the appointment of new governors and security directors.

Ben Adyo rejected the new position. "I apologize for accepting this position, and I would like to live as an ordinary citizen," he said in a tweet.

Following the Yemeni president's decision, citizens in the city of Ataq, the capital of Shabwa Governorate, fired fireworks in the air, to express their joy at the move.

Activists on social media said that security forces assaulted a child, who participated in these celebrations.

Yesterday, hundreds of Yemenis demonstrated their support, in Ataq, for the former governor.

Officials accuse Ben Adyo of collaborating with the Houthi movement, after its fighters took control of three districts in the province without a fight, on the 21st of last September.

- south24
- File: Former Governor of Shabwa, Mohammed Salih bin Adyo (Official)