Embassies
in Yemen close as thousands protests against militia rule
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[February 11, 2015]
By Mohammed Ghobari
SANAA (Reuters) - The United States,
Britain and France closed their embassies in Yemen over security fears
as the takeover of the country by a Shi'ite Muslim militia group
threatened all-out civil war.
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Tens of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of the
central city of Taiz on Wednesday and hundreds more in the capital
Sanaa in the largest protests yet against the Houthi movement, which
overran Sanaa in September and formally took power last week.
The United States stopped work at its embassy and withdrew its
diplomatic staff on Tuesday.
"Recent unilateral actions disrupted the political transition
process in Yemen, creating the risk that renewed violence would
threaten Yemenis and the diplomatic community in Sanaa," U.S. State
Department spokesperson Jen Psaki said.
France and Britain followed suit on Wednesday, while employees of
the German embassy said its mission was also getting rid of
sensitive documents and would soon close.
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The Houthi movement has called its moves a "revolution" and says it
advanced from its traditional redoubts in northern Yemen to rid the
country of corruption and economic peril.
Their slogan is "Death to America" and their leader Abdel Malik
al-Houthi has blasted what he calls Western meddling in Yemen.
But Houthi struck a conciliatory tone in a televised speech on
Tuesday as dialogue continued among Yemeni parties who mostly oppose
the Houthi decision to dissolve parliament.
"It is in the interest of every power, domestic and foreign, to
stabilize this country," he said.
Opponents of the Iranian-backed group, including Yemen's rich Sunni
Gulf neighbors, have decried the takeover as a coup.
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Houthi fighters, bedecked in tribal robes and automatic rifles, were
out in force manning checkpoints and guarding government buildings
they control in the capital.
Gunmen shot in the air and thrusted daggers at protesters opposing
their rule. In Taiz, which the Houthis do not control, huge crowds
carrying banners chanted slogans against the group and called for
their downfall.
Fanning out into Yemen's west and center in recent months, Houthi
forces advanced far south through several districts on Tuesday night
according to local officials.
Leaders and Sunni tribesmen in the southern and eastern regions,
which the group has yet to seize are arming themselves against their
push and are in some cases making common cause with Yemeni Al Qaeda
militants, leading to fears of an all-out sectarian war.
(Reporting By Noah Browning; Editing by Angus MacSwan)
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