Brand New President and New Style Killings May Hint at Deep Changes to Come as Saleh Out in Yemen

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Deadly blast overshadows Yemen leader swearing-in

By Hammoud Mounassar (AFP)

SANAA — A suicide bomber blew up a vehicle outside a presidential palace in southeastern Yemen Saturday, killing 26 elite troops and overshadowing the swearing in of the first new president in Sanaa since 1978. A military official said the bombing in the Hadramawt provincial capital Mukalla bore the hallmark of Al-Qaeda, as Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi took the oath to succeed strongman Ali Abdullah Saleh and pledged to press the battle against the jihadists.

Militants loyal to Al-Qaeda have exploited the decline in central government control that accompanied 10 months of deadly unrest, that forced Saleh to cede power, and seized large swathes of southern and eastern Yemen.

“A pick-up truck driven by a suicide bomber exploded at the entrance of the presidential palace in Mukalla,” the military official said.

He said the attack “carries the fingerprints of Al-Qaeda,” adding that the bomber “could be Mohammed al-Sayari,” a Saudi originally from Hadramawt.

“The bodies of 20 soldiers were taken to the mortuary and there are many others wounded,” said a medic at Mukalla’s Ibn Sina hospital.

Another medic said later that “six others have died of their wounds.”

The military source said no high-ranking officials were in the palace when the bomber struck.

The palace is guarded by the elite Republican Guard, a unit under the command of Saleh’s son Ahmed that played a key role in the strongman’s deadly crackdown on the uprising against his rule before finally signing in November a transfer of power deal.

In an address to the nation after being sworn in to succeed Saleh, Hadi vowed to fight against Al-Qaeda and restore security across his impoverished nation, ancestral homeland of slain jihadist leader Osama bin Laden.

“It is a patriotic and religious duty to continue the battle against Al-Qaeda,” he said.

“If we don’t restore security, the only outcome will be chaos.”