Yemen president names new prime minister as part of a UN-brokered peace deal with Shiites

SANAA, Yemen – Yemen's president has named the head of his office as prime minister, in a major step toward implementing a U.N.-brokered peace deal with Shiite rebels.

The official news agency Saba reports that President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi named Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak as prime minister Tuesday following consultations with political parties.

Bin Mubarak, 46, previously led an effort to devise a political map for transition after a 2011 uprising in the impoverished country on the Arabian Peninsula.

The U.N.-brokered agreement signed last month ended fighting left more than 140 people dead and Shiite Houthi rebels in control of the capital Sanaa after the military collapsed. It called for the formation of a technocratic government within a month.

The Houthis have called for a new government and a share in power.