Security measures in Yemen in preparations for elections

The Yemeni authorities on Monday carried out intensive security measures and put more than 50,000 soldiers on alert to ensure good presidential elections on September 23 in Yemen.

AFP quoted Maj. Gen. Ali Muhammad Saleh, an official on the electoral committee, as saying to reporters in Aden on Monday that a contingent including army soldiers and policemen will be in charge of ensuring the security of the voting stations in all parts of the country.

However, Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh is facing only one rival from his party, the People's General Conference, parliament member Najib Qahtan al-Chaabi, son of the first president of the former South Yemen, who was nominated in the election as an independent.

The current Yemeni president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, has been president of Yemen since 1990, following the unification of North and South Yemen. His new term of office was renewed in 1994.