Yemen: Seven women in the leadership of al-Islaah party

For the first time, the Yemeni Grouping for Reform (Islaah), the main Islamic party in Yemen, elected seven women to its central committee. It is the first time since the establishment of the party in 1990 that women, through elections, have reached this leading 130-member commission.

The elections were made at the conclusion of the party's second conference, which was opened on Monday in Sanaa by its chairman Sheikh Abdullah al-Ahmar, who is also the Speaker of the Yemeni parliament.

The party was defeated in the parliamentary elections held in April 1997, after being a partner in the governmental coalition which was formed in 1993.

This party now occupies 62 seats out of 301 seats in the Yemeni Parliament, which is controlled by the General People's Congress, the party of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

The conferees called upon the government to "strengthen the solidarity process, honor rights and legal and constitutional freedoms and to fight corruption."