L
LequteMan
Guest
Yemen is to be divided into six federal states, a committee chaired by President Abd-Rabu Hadi decided on Monday.
The state news agency Saba reported that two states would be formed in the south, which until 1990 was the independent Marxist republic of South Yemen.
The remaining four would be in the smaller but more populous and politically-dominant north.
The decision came three weeks after a ``national dialogue conference’’ agreed that the Arabian republic should be transformed into a federation.
But the conference was unable to agree on whether it should be made up of two states or six.
Southern separatists, the Yemeni Socialist Party and northern Houthi Shiite rebels wanted two federal states corresponding to the former independent republics.
The main northern political forces, fearing southern secession, called for a six-state federation.
Yemen's capital, Sana'a, and the port city of Aden, the former southern capital, would have special status under the new system.
The state news agency Saba reported that two states would be formed in the south, which until 1990 was the independent Marxist republic of South Yemen.
The remaining four would be in the smaller but more populous and politically-dominant north.
The decision came three weeks after a ``national dialogue conference’’ agreed that the Arabian republic should be transformed into a federation.
But the conference was unable to agree on whether it should be made up of two states or six.
Southern separatists, the Yemeni Socialist Party and northern Houthi Shiite rebels wanted two federal states corresponding to the former independent republics.
The main northern political forces, fearing southern secession, called for a six-state federation.
Yemen's capital, Sana'a, and the port city of Aden, the former southern capital, would have special status under the new system.