Yemeni politician killed day after new government formed SANAA, Yemen, Nov. 2 (UPI) -- The leader of a political party in Yemen was killed in the streets of the country's capital one day after the formation of a multi-party, technocratic government. Mohammed Abdel Malek al-Mutawakel was fatally shot in the neck Sunday by a gunman riding a motorcycle in Sanaa, his family told media sources. Mutawakel was the secretary-general of the Union of Popular Forces party, one of several political factions in Yemen and a rival of the Shia Houthi militants from the north of the country. The Houthis fought to overthrow the Sunni-led government in Sanaa for months until the U.N.brokered a peace deal between the two sides in September after the Houthis had seized much of the capital. That deal brought about the a new, Houthi-nominated prime minister, who late last month handed Yemen's oil infrastructure to the Shia rebels. The Yemeni governmment has also faced threats from al-Qaida-linked militants in the country's south. Mutawakel was seen as a moderator between the Houthis and the central government, but was also accused of privately backing the Shia rebels. His death comes a day after Yemen's political factions signed an agreement allowing the president and prime minister to create a technocratic government inclusive of all signatories, including the Houthi's Ansarallah party. Al Jazeera coorespondent Omar Al Saleh said that Mutawakel's assassination would prove destabilizing in the face of such progress, since he was seen as a "link between the warring parties." The agreement was attached to the U.N. ceasefire in September, but since then, Houthis issued an ultimatum to President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, warning that "all options were open" if he failed to form a government in 10 days. Also on Sunday, al-Qaida militants attacked security posts and headquarters in Hudeidah with light and medium weapons, looting a weapons depot and killing 19 Yemeni soldiers.