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| Arabia | |
| Yemeni opposition names single presidential candidate | |
| 2006-07-03 | |
SANAÂ’A - Yemeni opposition parties on Sunday named a single candidate to challenge long-serving President Ali Abdullah Saleh in the presidential elections planned for next September. Leaders of five main opposition parties voted at a meeting in the capital SanaÂ’a to field independent politician Faisal bin Shamlan, 72, as their sacrificial lamb joint candidate for the presidential vote.
Bin Shamlan is widely respected, particularly in the southern provinces of this impoverished Arab country, for his public stands against corruption. He served as an oil and infrastructure minister in South Yemen. After the reunification, he was appointed oil minister in 1994, but he resigned one year later to protest corruption in the oil industry sector. Yemen is a small oil producer which pumps some 470,000 barrels per day. Although a dozen of politicians have announced an intention to run for the presidential elections, bin Shamlan is expected to be the main rival of incumbent President Saleh in the presidential polls. Saleh, who has been at the helm since 1978, announced last week that he would seek re-election, | |
| Posted by:Steve White |