A car bomb outside the gate of a presidential compound in southern Yemen killed at least 25 people hours after the country's new president was formally inaugurated and vowed to fight al-Qaida, according to AP. A security official said the attack in the city of Mukalla in Hadramout province was carried out by a suicide bomber, and that it bore the hallmarks of an al-Qaida operation. A health official confirmed the death toll. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not allowed to speak to the press. The blast came hours after Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi was sworn in as president to replace longtime leader Ali Abdullah Saleh, following an election aimed at ending more than a year of political turmoil in Yemen. Hadi was the only candidate in the election. In his televised speech before parliament, Hadi vowed to keep up Yemen's fight against al-Qaida-linked militants, who have taken advantage of the country's political turmoil to seize control of towns and swaths of territory in the country's restive south. Hadi also pledged to that thousands of Yemenis forced from their homes because of the fighting among government troops, southern separatists, mutinous military units, tribal movements, and numerous other factions. "One of the most prominent tasks is the continuation of war against al-Qaida as a religious and national duty, and to bring back displaced people to their villages and towns," Hadi said.
