Tareq Mohammad Abdullah Saleh, a nephew of the former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, stepped down on Thursday after days negations with the UN Envoy to Yemen Jamal Benomar.
Benomar said in a press brief on Thursday that he witnessed the handover of the 3rd Brigade of the Republican Guard from Tariq to the newly-appointed commander Abdul-Rahman Al-Halili.
Military sources say that the 3rd Brigade is among the most heavily armed and its units are centered in the mountains surrounding the Yemeni Capital Sana'a.
However, it was not mentioned by Benomar whether the command of the Presidential Guard was handed over to the new commander Saleh Al-Jualiani.
During the conference, the UN Envoy affirmed that Yemen still faces serious security challenges, expressing his trust that President Abdu Rabo Hadi could overcome all these challenges.
Benomar postponed his departure to New York that was scheduled on Wednesday, sources close to Benomar affirmed, pointing out that he will present a report about Yemen's updates and situation on May 17.
Hadi issued a month ago decrees of replacing nearly 20 officers, including Air force Chief Mohammed Saleh al-Ahmar. However Al-Ahmar and Tariq refused the decrees and only quitted after the intervention of Benomar.
Al-Ahmar, a half brother of Saleh, was persuaded by Benomar on April 14 to leave the post he held after nearly three decades of rejection.
While Yemeni revolutionaries insisted on the dismissal of all Saleh's relatives from the military and security forces, his elderly son, Ahmed and nephew, Yahya, still head the elite Republican Guard and the central security services.