|
 Hadi said on Wednesday he was ready to accept Houthi demands
which also include constitutional change, yielding to pressure from
the Shi'ite group whose fighters battled their way into the
presidential palace this week, after seizing an aide to the
president.
A Houthi politburo member said Hadi's concessions were in line with
a peace deal which his group, whose official name is Ansarullah,
signed with other political parties when they seized the capital
Sanaa in September - a move that helped to cement the rebels'
position as Yemen's de facto powerbrokers.
"The latest agreement is a series of timed measures to implement the
peace and partnership accord, which shows that Ansarullah were not
planning to undermine the political process," politburo member
Mohammed al-Bukhaiti told Reuters.
"The agreement is satisfactory because it confirms what is most
important in the partnership agreement," he said.
 The withdrawal of the gunmen, and the release of presidential aide
Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak could happen in the next three days if the
authorities committed to implementing the agreement fully,
al-Bukhaiti added.
The rebels' rise to influence has caused chaos in Yemen and resulted
in a shift in its complex web of tribal, religious and regional
allegiances. In addition, the Houthis are players in a regional
struggle between neighboring Saudi Arabia and Shi'ite Iran.
Suspecting Iranian complicity, the Sunni Muslim authorities in
Riyadh cut most of their financial aid to Yemen after the Houthis'
takeover of the capital.
Hadi said on Wednesday he was ready to accept demands for
constitutional change and power sharing with the Houthis. Conceding
to a major demand, he confirmed in a statement that the draft
constitution was subject to amendment and said all sides had agreed
that government and state institutions, schools and universities
should rapidly return to work.
He also said the Houthis had agreed to leave his private residence
and the presidential palace, and to free bin Mubarak, a former
presidential nominee whom the Houthis seized on Saturday during a
standoff.
But the capital remained largely shut down, witnesses said, even
though the airport and seaport in the southern city of Aden resumed
work on Thursday, having closed for a day in protest at the Houthi
offensive against Hadi's administration.
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STAYING PUT
Clusters of Houthi fighters were dotted around the perimeter of the
presidential palace on Thursday. At Hadi's residence, sentry points
normally used by presidential guards were empty, and a group of
Houthis with an army vehicle were parked at a main entrance.
"The Houthis will not withdraw. They have agreed in the past to
withdraw from Sanaa, but they did not," said Mohammed Said, a local
resident standing close to Hadi's residence.
Said he thought they would procrastinate to achieve more demands and
then get ready to take control of Marib, an oil-rich province east
of Sanaa, where al Qaeda operates.
Another Houthi official told Reuters he expected Hadi to announce a
decision on government posts, after which the group would begin
procedures for the release of bin Mubarak and the gradual withdrawal
from the presidential buildings.
"And the complete withdrawal will coincide with the completion of
all the decisions related to the deal signed yesterday," the Houthi
official said, declining to be identified.
But Yemen's Information Minister Nadia al-Saqqaf expressed
scepticism over the Houthi's intentions. "Ahmed Mubarak is still
(the) Houthis' hostage," she wrote on her Twitter account. "They got
what they want. Why they should fulfill their promise?"
A source close to the presidency said the Houthis have "gradually"
begun to withdraw from Hadi's private residence. "Presidential
security will be redeployed to their positions in the next two
days," the source told Reuters.
(Additional reporting by Mohammed Mokhashaf in Aden; Writing by Sami
Aboudi; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky and David Stamp)
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