ADEN, Yemen — Yemeni Prime Minister Khaled Bahah returned to the southern port of Aden on Wednesday in a step toward restoring a government on home soil. Government spokesman Rajeh Badi said Bahah, who is also vice president, was accompanied by seven ministers when he arrived in Aden. “Khaled Bahah and the ministers who arrived with him are in Aden to stay permanently,” Badi said. Bahah's return follows that of several other Yemeni ministers who relocated to Aden in the weeks after the city was retaken in July. Bahah made a brief visit to Aden on Aug. 1. Speaking at a news conference at Aden's Al-Qasr hotel on Wednesday, Badi said that “the security file, reconstruction and incorporating the southern resistance into the army” were at the top of the government's agenda, according to the local Aden Al-Ghad news website Local officials say some 300 local police officers have returned to work since July and some police stations have resumed operations. Residents say that fighters from out of town, including some affiliated to Al-Qaeda, had been seen on the streets of the city. Last month, the city was rocked by a number of incidents, including an explosion next to the governor's office. A Christian cemetery dating from British rule of Aden that ended nearly 50 years ago was also vandalized. In the latest attack, assailants set fire to the Church of Saint Joseph, a local official said. The contents of the church were completely burned. — Reuters
