Yemen's Foreign Minister Abubaker al-Qirbi announced Wednesday that national dialogue talks to construct a new constitution and prepare for elections in the country may be delayed up to three months, according to AFP sources.
The UN-sponsored talks were due to end on September 18th, but Yemen's Southern Movement has boycotted the talks since their March initiation and has demanded secession from the county altogether. Qirbi, along with the UN Security Council have accused the former South Yemen president, Ali Salem al-Baid of encouraging the boycott and delaying the talks.
North and South Yemen were united into one country in 1990, but civil war ensued in the newly-formed country in 1994, reigniting tensions between north and south.
While talks stall, Al-Qaeda-linked violence continues in the country. AFP sources reported that Al-Qaeda gunmen shot four Yemeni soldiers Wednesday in the southeast province of Hadramawt. All four died, and several other soldiers were wounded.
Al-Qaeda militants are also holding soldiers hostage at an army headquarters in another part of Hadramawt in the city of Mukalla.
