Ahead of Proposed Ceasefire, Saudi Arabia Pummels Yemen with Heavy Bombing

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1. MEE EXCLUSIVE: Al-Qaeda pulls out of key government buildings in southeastern Yemen

AL MUKALLA, Yemen - Jubilation was the feeling of many on Thursday at a small airport in southeastern Yemen as a man with a white beard fervently declared that Sons of Hadramout, a new name for al-Qaeda, have officially pulled out of the airport and handed it back to locals. For the crowd, it was a gesture by al-Qaeda militants that they would honour their promise and fully withdraw from the city.

Exploiting nation-wide violence and a split army, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula or AQAP, al-Qaeda's active branch in Yemen, stormed the port city of Mukalla, the capital of Hadramout province on 2 April, after engaging in brief clashes with army troops. The militants broke into the city's prison, looted a large government bank, drove army troops out of the city and took control of their bases.

In the following days, an army brigade and security units crumbled quickly as terrified soldiers agreed to save their skin by handing over positions to al-Qaeda in exchange for driving them off to their hometowns in northern Yemen. Al-Qaeda prepared four large buses to carry the remaining soldiers with their personal arms and properties.

The militants did not raise their black flag; they were unwilling to enact their radical interpretation of Islam and announced that they would not mind handing over key government institutions to locals provided there is a coherent entity that would take charge.

http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/al-qaeda-pulls-out-key-government-institutes-mukalla-956533229