The confirmation of the Afghan conference came on Francesc Vendrell's fourth day of talks in the Afghan capital with key figures in the Northern Alliance and other tribal and faction leaders.

BBC: UN announces Afghan conference

Sheikh Sattar had formed an alliance with other tribal leaders and the U.S. vowing to crush al-Qaida in Iraq.

NPR: Murdered Sheik Was Fearless Fighter, Colonel Says

There are plenty of competing elements left behind: the thousands of mainly young demonstrators who took to the streets of Sanaa and other cities in January to demand democratic change, the tribal alliance that took up arms against Saleh, secessionists in the south and a Shiite rebellion in the north, well-organized Islamist groups and a budding al Qaeda franchise.

CNN: Yemen after Saleh: Still a treacherous road

The alliance of these two important figures, from rural-ex-Marxist and urban-tribal backgrounds, will help galvanise the broad-based nature of the Southern Movement.

ECONOMIST: Yemen is threatened by secessionists and terrorists alike