A top Yemeni opposition official was shot dead by a member of a rival opposition party in the middle of a party conference on Saturday, a government official said.
Jarallah Omar, deputy secretary-general of the Yemeni Socialist Party, was pronounced dead in hospital shortly after the shooting in Sanaa, medical sources said, according to Reuters.
The government official named the gunman as Ali Jarallah, a member of the Islamic opposition Islah Party who is known for attacking moderates in his party as well as the government.
Omar, aged in his 60s, was shot minutes after giving a speech at the Islah Party's annual assembly. Islah had invited several leaders of different opposition groups to attend.
"The gunman went up to Omar after he sat down and shot him several times," one witness said.
A Socialist Party statement condemned Omar's killing as a "terrorist political assassination". "The bullets...aimed to silence the voice of reason which calls for an end to the daily killing and the culture of violence," it said.
A Socialist Party official said Jarallah had been handed over to the Interior Ministry by leaders of the Islah Party.
(Albawaba.com)
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