SANAA, 26 August 2006 — A Yemeni election official was killed late Thursday in the eastern Al-Jawf Province, hours after candidates for the presidential election launched their campaigns, police said.
Muslih Sharian, head of the supervisory election committee of Al-Jawf, was shot dead in an attack on a newly established electoral office in the province, about 170 kilometers east of the capital Sanaa, officials said.
Two other people were also killed in the attack, they said, adding that a police has launched an investigation to find the attackers.
Sharian, who belongs to the opposition Islah party, was appointed as the top electoral supervisor in Al-Jawf under a mandate from the country’s Supreme Election Commission.
Armed clashes between supporters of Yemen’s ruling party and those of an opposition group ahead of local council elections, led to the killings officials said yesterday.
The ruling General People’s Congress candidate for the council of Al-Jawf Province was killed in the clash as well as the head of the local election committee. Eight other people were injured in the confrontation in the province.
Supporters of the ruling General People’s Congress and others backing the Commom Forum — an alliance of main opposition parties, clashed over alleged tampering with the register of candidates, witnesses said.
Similar outbreaks of violence are feared at over 160 voting centers during the run up to the Sept. 20 ballot, an elections official said.
Previous elections have been marred by violence in the country where many carry arms.
Around 30 people were killed in 2001 in Yemen’s first municipal polls.
Yemen is preparing for presidential and municipal elections scheduled for Sept. 20. President Ali Abdullah Saleh, 64, and four other presidential hopefuls are registered to stand for the presidential polls.
More than 24,000 people have signed up to run for the 5,620 municipal seats across the country.
The opposition’s presidential candidate, Faisal Bin-Shamlan, launched his campaign earlier Thursday with pledges to fight corruption and improve life for ordinary people.
