Yemen unity govt sworn in, soldier killed

Yemen's new unity government, formed to try and avert civil war, met for the first time on Saturday, hours after a soldier was killed in continuing violence between supporters and opponents of outgoing president Ali Abdullah Saleh.   

State news agency Saba said Vice President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, to whom Saleh transferred his powers under a deal brokered by Yemen's Gulf neighbors, chaired the meeting of the newly sworn-in cabinet, which includes members of the opposition.   

The government faces a host of challenges including sporadic fighting with anti-Saleh tribesmen, a southern separatist movement, a Shi'ite Muslim rebellion in the north and a regional wing of al Qaeda that has exploited the upheaval to strengthen its foothold in the poor Arabian peninsula country.   

Top oil exporter Saudi Arabia shares U.S. fears that more instability in Yemen could embolden the country's al Qaeda wing - against which Washington has waged a campaign of drone strikes - in a country sitting next to oil shipping routes.   

Late on Friday, a soldier was killed in fighting between government forces and opponents of Saleh on the streets of the capital Sanaa, the Defense Ministry said.   

The violence near government buildings and the compound of Sadeq al-Ahmar, a foe of Saleh who commands significant forces, was the latest challenge to the transition plan after 10 months of bloody anti-Saleh protests.   

The Defense Ministry on its website accused the Ahmar tribesmen of launching attacks in the northern neighborhood of Hasaba with the aim of "derailing efforts towards establishing security and stability in the capital and other areas".   

The opposition, in turn, accused troops from the Republican Guard, which is headed by a son of Saleh, of breaking a truce and firing artillery salvos at northern districts of the capital on Saturday, wounding at least one person.