Yemeni leader names ambassador to UN as prime minister, after rebels force out predecessor
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}FILE - In this Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2007 file photo, Yemen's then Minister of Oil and Minerals, Khaled Bahah, gestures during a media event, at the Petrotech-2007 conference, in New Delhi, India. On Monday October 13, 2014 Yemen's president appointed Bahah, Yemen's ambassador to the United Nations and former oil minister, as prime minister just days after Shiite rebels who control the country's capital forced out his predecessor. The official news agency SABA says President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi chose Bahah to the post after rival political groups gave backing to the selection. (AP Photo/Mustafa Quraishi, File) (The Associated Press)
Yemen's president has appointed a diplomat as prime minister just days after Shiite rebels who control the country's capital forced out his predecessor.
The official news agency SABA says President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi chose Khaled Bahah, Yemen's ambassador to the United Nations, to the post after rival political groups gave backing to the selection.
Born in 1965, Bahah is from southern Yemen, studied banking and graduated from an Indian university. He previously served as oil minister and ambassador to Canada.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Shiite Houthi rebels have controlled Sanaa since last month. Their rejection last week of Hadi's previous choice of Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak as prime minister prompted him to resign.
Bahah's appointment Monday could ease the political deadlock in this impoverished Arabian Peninsula country after the Houthis' rise to power.