|
 The Houthis, friendly to Iran, swept into the capital four months
ago and have emerged as the dominant force in the country. For now
at least they appear to have decided to stop short of overthrowing
Hadi, possibly preferring to exert control over a weakened leader
rather than take on the burden of power.
Their defeat of the presidential guards in gunbattles and artillery
duels in recent days adds to disarray in a country where the United
States is also carrying out drone strikes against one of the most
powerful branches of al Qaeda.
After clashes at the president's office and home on Tuesday, the
Houthis' leader threatened in a speech overnight to take further
"measures" unless Hadi bows to his demand for constitutional changes
that would increase Houthi power.
By early morning on Wednesday, Houthi fighters, accompanied by an
armored vehicle, had replaced the guards at the president's
residence. Presidential guard sentry posts were initially empty,
however a few guards later appeared and were permitted to take up
positions.
"President Hadi is still in his home. There is no problem, he can
leave," Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, a member of the Houthi politburo, told
Reuters.
Yemeni military sources said the Houthis also seized the military
aviation college located close to Hadi's home, and the main missile
base in Sanaa, without a fight.
In the south of the country, Hadi's home region, local officials
denounced what they called a coup against him and shut the air and
sea ports of the south's main city, Aden.
Yemen, an impoverished nation of 25 million, has been plagued by
Islamist insurgency, separatist conflict, sectarian strife and
economic crisis for years. An "Arab Spring" popular uprising in 2011
led to the downfall of long-ruling President Ali Abdullah Saleh,
bringing more chaos.
The Houthis, rebels from the north drawn from a large Shi'ite
minority that ruled a 1,000-year kingdom in Yemen until 1962,
stormed into the capital in September but had mostly held back from
directly challenging Hadi until last week, when they detained his
chief of staff.
They accuse the president of seeking to bypass a power-sharing deal
signed when they seized Sanaa in September, and say they are also
working to protect state institutions from corrupt civil servants
and officers trying to plunder state property.
Houthi fighters battled guards at Hadi's home and entered the
presidential palace on Tuesday. In his televised speech that
followed, the group's leader Abdel-Malek al-Houthi warned Hadi that
he had to implement the power-sharing deal.
"We ... will not hesitate to impose any necessary measures to
implement the peace and partnership agreement," said Abdel-Malek,
whose Shi'ite Muslim group is widely seen as an ally of Iran in its
regional struggle for influence with Saudi Arabia.
"All the options are open and without exception and the ceiling is
very, very high. And this is why, I here advise the president ...
Implement this deal. It is for your benefit and for the benefit of
your people," he said on live television.
[to top of second column] |
The accord gives the Shi'ite Muslim group, which takes its name from
the family of its leader, a role in all military and civil state
bodies. The Houthis also demand changes to the divisions of regional
power in a draft constitution.
Their decision to stop short of toppling Hadi, an ally of the West
and supporter of U.S. drone strikes, may be intended to keep
regional Sunni Muslim states and the United States from rallying
against them.
A government source told Reuters: “They know that if they bring
about the downfall of the president, they won’t be able to rule the
country, because Western and neighboring countries will gang on up
on them, as well as other provinces that are not under their
control.”
Abdel-Malek's speech left little doubt however that his movement was
now in effective control of the country. Al Masdar newspaper
referred to him as "the president's president".
"AGGRESSIVE COUP"
The local security committee of Aden, the main city in the south,
said it has ordered the airport, sea port and all land crossings
closed until further notice. It denounced an "aggressive coup
against the president personally and the political process as a
whole".
The emergence of the Houthis as Yemen's de facto top power in
September has scrambled alliances across Yemen's political spectrum,
raising fears of deeper instability in a country that shares a
border with top oil exporter Saudi Arabia and has one of al Qaeda's
most active branches.
Foreign ministers of Gulf Arab states, allies of Hadi, were due to
discuss the crisis in Yemen at an emergency meeting in the Saudi
capital Riyadh later on Wednesday.
Iran called for Yemen's differences to be resolved through
discussion: "Misunderstandings among Yemeni political groups need to
be removed through talks,” parliament speaker Ali Larijani said on a
visit to Turkey.
(Additional reporting by Mohammed Mokhashaf in Aden, Parisa Hafezi
in Ankara; Writing by William Maclean and Sami Aboudi; Editing by
Peter Graff)
[© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2014 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
