* Militants take over Radda town with little resistance
* Tribesmen kidnap Norwegian UN employee in Yemen
Sanaa,January 15:Al Qaeda militants have seized a small town southeast of Yemen’s capital Sanaa today in another setback to efforts to restore order after President Ali Abdullah Saleh formally handed over power following almost a year of mass protests against his rule.
A police source and witnesses said the militants met little resistance from a small police force when they entered the town of Radda in al-Baydah province, 170 km from Sanaa, on Saturday night, seizing an ancient citadel and mosque.
The capture of Radda expanded al Qaeda control outside the southern province of Abyan, where they have taken over several towns since the uprising against Saleh began.
Saleh signed a deal brokered by Yemen’s Gulf neighbours in November under which he shifted formal power to his deputy.
But he has not yet left the country and continues to wield a great deal of power through relatives’ control of security forces.
“I call again on President Saleh to abide by the terms of the agreement,” UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon said in Beirut during a Middle East visit, noting that a UN mediator had been “at the heart of negotiations” with Saleh.
The anti-Saleh unrest has emboldened groups linked to al Qaeda’s Yemen-based regional wing, which the United States has called the most dangerous branch of the militant network.
The United States and Saudi Arabia, the world’s No. 1 oil exporter, are keen for the Gulf-backed power transfer deal to work, fearing that a vacuum in Yemen may give al Qaeda space to thrive near key oil and cargo shipping lanes in the Red Sea.
—————-Reuters