UN envoy to Yemen says country’s president will stay on for longer than 2 years

SANAA, Yemen – The U.N. envoy to Yemen says the country’s president is likely to stay in office beyond the envisioned two-year transition period because he is facing obstruction from political opponents that is delaying progress.

Yemen President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi took over from longtime leader Ali Abdullah Saleh in February 2012 after a year of protests demanding his ouster. An internationally-backed, Gulf-sponsored initiative envisioned a two-year transition that ends with parliamentary and presidential elections.

But U.N. envoy Jamal Benomar told The Associated Press Monday Hadi will remain president after February 2014 because the transition is not likely to be completed earlier due to “obstruction” from former regime loyalists. A national dialogue with southern secessionists and members of Saleh’s political party has dragged. Security sector reform was also been bogged down.