Yemen’s Presidential Leadership on Monday appointed its foreign minister Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak as the country’s new prime minister, news agency Reuters reported.
Yemen’s internationally-recognized government announced the decision in a surprise move that analysts say will likely anger the country’s Iran-backed Huthi rebels.
Outgoing Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalik Saeed will take on the role of an advisor to the Chairman of the Presidential Leadership Council, the office of Yemen’s Cabinet later posted on X.
Bin Mubarak’s road to prominence
In 2015, Bin Mubarak came to prominence when he was kidnapped by the country’s Iran-aligned Houthis while he served as Yemen’s presidential chief of staff during a power struggle with then-President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.
The seizure of bin Mubarak helped plunge Yemen into a political crisis, resulting in clashes between the Houthis and President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi’s presidential guards that prompted the president and the government to resign.
Bin Mubarak most recently served as Yemen’s foreign minister from 2020.