|
 Hadi, a former general, blamed the Houthis' control of the capital
Sanaa for impeding his attempt to steer Yemen toward stability after
years of secessionist and tribal unrest, deepening poverty and U.S.
drone strikes on Islamist militants.
His resignation on Thursday startled the Arabian Peninsula country
of 25 million, where the Shi'ite Muslim Houthis emerged as the
dominant faction by seizing Sanaa in September and dictating terms
to a humiliated Hadi, whom they had held as a virtual prisoner at
his home residence clashes with security guards this week.
Chanting "we are the revolution", a small group of activists
gathered at Change Square, the focus of 2011 pro-democracy protests
which forced long-ruling President Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down
under a Gulf power transfer deal.
"We're here in rejection of the events that are happening. We came
out to build a state and our demand is still to have a state," said
activist Farida al-Yareemi. "We went out against Ali Abdullah Saleh
and he had all the weapons."
 Washington, which has relied on Hadi's cooperation to stage the
drone strikes on the Yemeni branch of al Qaeda, said it was
concerned by the departures of the president and Prime Minister
Khaled Bahah, who also quit on Thursday.
"The United States is troubled by reports of President Hadi and his
cabinet’s resignation," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said
in a statement. "At this time, it is critical that all sides avoid
violence."
The Yemeni parliament is scheduled to meet on Sunday to discuss
Hadi's resignation and can accept or reject it. Under the
constitution, parliamentary speaker Yahya al-Ra'i, who comes from
Saleh's General People's Congress party, takes office for an interim
period while new elections are organized.
NO OFFICIAL HOUTHI POSITION
Some Houthi officials have welcomed Hadi's resignation but the group
said an official position had yet to be taken. It urged the army to
uphold its responsibilities and called on Houthi fighters to be on
alert.
Witness said Houthi fighters were seen surrounding the homes of a
number of senior officials from Bahah's government, including the
defense minister, in Sanaa.
A senior Yemeni official said the Houthis had proposed the creation
an interim presidential council to run the majority Sunni Muslim
country, but an alliance of parties rejected the idea.
Hadi, who led a United Nations-backed attempt to make political
reforms and bury the autocracy and graft of the past, stood down
shortly after Bahah offered his government's resignation, saying it
did not want to be dragged into "an unconstructive political maze".
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This was a reference to a standoff between the Houthi movement and
Hadi, who had been held in his residence.
On Friday, Reuters witnesses said five all-terrain vehicles
belonging to the special forces were parked outside Hadi's compound.
Houthi fighters were not visible inside.
Sultan al-Atwani, one of Hadi's advisers, told Reuters he had
resigned after pressure and threats from the Houthis.
Late on Thursday, Houthi fighters took up positions around the
parliament building, residents said.
In the southern city of Aden, three soldiers and two armed men were
killed in an attack by unidentified gunmen on armored vehicles in
the early hours of Friday, local officials told Reuters. Three
explosions were heard in the port city during the attack, which was
followed by the clashes, said one of the officials, who declined to
be identified.
The departure of Hadi, a southerner, has caused anger in Aden, where
officials reacted by telling security officers to obey only orders
issued in Aden, an implicit snub to institutions in the north, where
Sanaa is.
Earlier in the week, Aden closed its docks briefly in protest
against Houthi militia attacks on state institutions in Sanaa,
calling them an "aggressive coup on the president personally and on
the political process as a whole".
Hadi's decision marked an abrupt turnaround from Wednesday, when he
said he was ready to accept Houthi demands for a bigger stake in
constitutional and political arrangements.
(Additional reporting by Mostafa Hashem in Cairo, Mohammed Mokhashaf
in Aden and Doina Chiacu in Washington; writing by Sami Aboudi,
editing by William Maclean and David Stamp)
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