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Yemen\u2019s Saudi-backed presidential leadership council has issued a decree to form a new government, with Shaya Mohsen al-Zindani confirmed as the country\u2019s prime minister.<\/p>\n
Al-Zindani will also continue to serve as foreign minister, the state-run news agency Saba reported on Friday.<\/p>\n
Last month, the council accepted the resignation of former Prime Minister Salem bin Breik and asked al-Zindani to form a cabinet.<\/p>\n
The new 34-member cabinet includes 10 ministers from the previous government and three women, Saba reported.<\/p>\n
Marwan Faraj bin Ghanim was named as minister of finance, while Mohamed Abdullah Ali was confirmed as oil minister. Taher Ali al-Uqaili will serve as defence minister, according to the presidential decree.<\/p>\n
The announcement comes as Yemen continues to be a source of tensions between Gulf powers Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.<\/p>\n
In December, the main southern Yemeni separatist group, the Southern Transitional Council \u2013 which Saudi Arabia says is backed by the UAE \u2013 gained control of areas across southern and eastern Yemen, advancing \u200cto within reach of the Saudi border, which the kingdom considered a threat to its national security.<\/p>\n
Saudi-backed fighters have \u200csince largely retaken those areas.<\/p>\n
The two Gulf states have recently also faced friction over numerous other matters, ranging from geopolitics to oil output.<\/p>\n
Saudi Arabia and the UAE had \u200cpreviously worked together in a coalition battling the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen\u2019s civil war, which led to one of the world\u2019s worst humanitarian crises.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n