Fired Yemeni military chief refuses to quit

Yemen's President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi sacked two military chiefs One of two Yemeni military chiefs sacked by President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi has refused to give up his post, a military source said on Saturday.Air force chief General Mohammed Saleh al-Ahmar , half brother of Hadi's predecessor Ali Abdullah Saleh, refused to quit unless several senior defence ministry officials, including the minister himself, also leave, said the source.
Hadi removed al-Ahmar on Friday as head of the air force, replacing nearly 20 top officers but leaving Saleh's son, nephew and other allies in place as heads of important military units.
A statement by the Hadi said four governors and more than a dozen military generals had been sacked to make way for new officials.
The shakeup came against a backdrop of concerns that Saleh was using loyalists to destabilise the country. Hundreds of thousands of Yemenis took to the streets on Friday demanding that Hadi purge the military of Saleh's relatives.
In his more than 30 years as president, Saleh had filled key security posts with relatives and loyalists.
The reshuffle came as al-Qaeda militants, who have exploited instability during a year of protests against Saleh to boost their activities, launched two attacks against government sites.
Hadi, who was Saleh's deputy, took power in February after standing as the only candidate in a presidential election, part of a deal brokered by the Gulf Cooperation Council for the former president to step down after 33 years in power.
The deal allowed Saleh to remain as head of the ruling party and granted him immunity from prosecution in return for leaving the presidency.
Yemen's state news agency Saba said Hadi appointed General Rashed Ali Nasser al-Jund as air force commander while al-Ahmar was made an assistant to the defence minister.
Under the power transfer deal, Hadi is tasked with reunifying the army, which had split during the year-long uprising against Saleh's rule, with some units openly siding with protesters.
Richer Gulf neighbour Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, and the United States both backed the transition deal, partly due to concerns over the expansion of al-Qaeda's regional wing in a country next to major Red Sea oil shipping lanes.
Saba said that a senior army officer loyal to dissident General Ali Mohsen, who broke away from Saleh after the protests began, was also replaced.
The reshuffle did not affect Brigadier General Ahmed Ali Abdullah Saleh, the ex-president's son and commander of the Republican Guards, or Saleh's nephew, Brigadier General Yehia Mohammed Abdullah Saleh, who heads the paramilitary Central Security Forces.
Hadi also sacked a brother-in-law to Saleh's daughter who had headed a lucrative oil products distribution company, which was seen as an arm of the former president's vast economic wealth.
The purge came weeks after air force units ended their mutiny against Ahmar after Hadi promised to fire him. Ahmar, who held the post for more than 20 years, had also angered the troops when he recently refused an order for helicopters to evacuate wounded soldiers after an al-Qaeda attack killed more than 180 soldiers in the south.
Air force officials said Ahmar had called on the units to reject the shakeup on Friday.
The navy official Colonel Mohamed Shimsan said the purge was an important step.
"It restores faith that had been missing in the government and reveals Hadi's power and his ability to make real changes, even with those close to Saleh," he said.
Hadi also replaced Saleh's nephew Tariq Mohamed Abdullah Saleh as the head of the presidential guard, transferring him to a desert post. The longtime Saleh loyalist Mohammed Ali Mohsen was replaced as head of the military's eastern command, which is responsible for areas where al-Qaeda is active. He was transferred to an administrative post.
Other shakeups included the replacements of governors in four provinces where al-Qaeda has been active or has taken over large swaths of territory and entire cities and towns.
One was the governor of Abyan province, who was believed to have turned a blind eye to al-Qaeda's growing influence during the uprising against Saleh as a way of warning the west and Gulf neighbours that without the longtime president, Yemen's security would unravel.
The governors of Marib, Hajja and Taez were also replaced, according to the statement from Hadi's office."This is the largest military shake-up in recent times. It took many by surprise," said Mohammed Albasha, spokesperson for Yemen's embassy in Washington.
A US state department official welcomed the changes in Sanaa. "The Yemeni people have expressed their desire for political reform and a more representative government," said the official to UK daily The Guardian. The official was not authorised to speak publicly on the matter.
Another US official said the development appeared to show Hadi was both trying to appease protesters and comply with the Gulf-brokered deal.
"But Hadi has pragmatically kept some of Saleh's military supporters and rivals in place," the official told The Guardian, speaking anonymously.
Analysts have said Hadi appeared to have tried to be balanced, by replacing officials from both rival camps.
"The decisions show that President Hadi is distinguished as a responsible commander. I believe the decisions have been taken in consultation with all political parties," Yemeni analyst Ali Saif Hassan told the UK's The Daily Telegraph.A suspected al-Qaeda suicide bomber blew himself up near a police building in southern Yemen on Friday, a security official said, hours after two militants died when a bomb they were carrying on a motorbike went off prematurely near a paramilitary police headquarters in the southern port city of Aden.
There were no other reports of casualties in either attack.