Yemen's President Abdrabu Mansour Hadi issued on Wednesday key decrees
on the main components of the organizational structure of the armed
forces, in a move that has been considered as the most important since
Hadi took office earlier this year.

Hadi took power under a West-backed power-transfer deal which was
reached after the 2011 unrest.

The main decree stipulated the Yemeni armed forces, from now on, shall
include four components: the ground, marine and air forces as well as
the border guard.

The decree fired the elder son of the former president, Ahmed Saleh,
who served as the commander of the republican guard and the commander
of the first armored division which defected to the popular uprising
early last year.

According to this decree, the Yemeni army will not include the
republican guard and the first armored division.

New chiefs have been named by Hadi to replace Ahmed Ali and Ali Mohsen
who have divided the Yemeni armed forces since last year.

The second decree was on the new structure of the Special Forces and
all components within these key military units.

Hadi also issued a third decree appointing a new chief of staff at the
central security forces replacing Yahya Saleh, a nephew of the former
president.

The decisions come as the country is gearing up for a comprehensive
national dialogue conference under the transition deal and amid calls
by the public, especially the youth-led protesters, to fire relatives
and loyalists of the former president holding key military and
security posts.

There have also been calls to start restructuring the armed forces to
ensure a productive dialogue conference.