A mediation led by the UN Yemen envoy Jamal Benomar and the second deputy of the GPC Abdul Karim al-Eryani has failed to convince commander Tariq Saleh to hand over the third republican guard brigade, al-Wasat newspaper reported quoting reliable sources.

Commander Tariq, a nephew of Yemen's ex-president, has rebelled against a decree by President Abdrabu Mansour Hadi replacing him and reappointing him as the commander of another brigade in the south.

Some of the military commanders, including relatives of the former president, who rebelled against the decrees of Hadi firing them, have already surrendered and gave up posts. But Tariq's stubbornness has been continuing for weeks.

Ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh, who signed a power transfer deal which saw him resign after 33 years in office, was said to have been behind the resistance of this commander, the newspaper said.

"Saleh has refused to hand over the brigade to the new commander tasked by Hadi, saying that handing over this brigade means to hand over his and his family necks," the sources quoted Saleh as saying, according to the paper.

Meantime, commander of the republican guard, Ahmed Ali Abdullah Saleh, the elder son of Saleh, was reported to have summoned all military attaches but the reasons behind the move were unclear.

It was not clear whether summoning the attaches was related to the handover of the brigade, the paper said.

Yemen's new president, Hadi, has started reforms in the army issuing decrees replacing senior commanders including relatives of Saleh and those who were very loyal to him.

The reforms, which come under the power transfer deal brokered by the GCC countries and backed by the UN, have been applauded by the people.