Yemen’s opposition elected an umbrella council on Wednesday aiming to take over power from embattled President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who has been in Riyadh for 10 weeks recovering from a bomb blast.
A 143-member “National Council for the Forces of the Peaceful Revolution” was elected by around 800 representatives of diverse opposition groups, an AFP correspondent said.
Those elected will choose 20 members to make up an executive committee. “The National Council will lead the forces of the revolution, determined to stand strong until Ali Abdullah Saleh’s departure,” said a key opposition leader, Sultan al-Atwani. The council groups the parliamentary parties of the Common Forum, which includes the influential Islamist party Al-Islah (reform), with the young protesters at the forefront of anti-regime protests since January.
