SANAA // A car bomb exploded at a hospital used as a base by Yemen’s Houthi rebels on Sunday, killing or wounding dozens of people.
The attack took place in Mazjar, Marib province, east of the capital, where the Houthis have seized government buildings without resistance.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but Al Qaeda has threatened the Houthis with such attacks.
Houthi fighters seized Sanaa on September 21 after four days of fighting with soldiers loyal to the Islah party, Yemen’s Muslim Brotherhood branch. The fighting killed more than 270 people
The Houthis have since refused to leave the capital, despite an agreement they signed with president Abdrabu Mansur Hadi to make them a part of the government.
The Saudi foreign minister Prince Saud Al Faisal told the UN General Assembly on Sunday that the situation in Yemen posed a threat to international security, and said the agreement to form a new government had been wrecked by the Houthis’ failure to give up control of the capital.
Riyadh fears the accord between the Houthis and Mr Hadi could benefit Iran, which it sees as an ally of the Houthis, and might also bolster Al Qaeda’s wing in the country.
“The lack of implementation of the agreement in the required manner by the Houthi group has dashed” hopes for an end to the crisis, Prince Saud said.
“Yemen faces accelerating and extremely dangerous conditions that require us all to look and propose the necessary solutions to confront these unprecedented challenges.”
Prince Saud said Yemen’s violence “will no doubt extend to threaten stability and security on the regional and international arena that could prove difficult to put down regardless of the resources and efforts that may be exerted”.
Saudi Arabia in 2011 played a key role in pushing forward a Gulf power transfer deal that saw long-serving president Ali Abdullah Saleh step down after months of protests in 2011 in favour of his deputy.
In the capital on Sunday, hundreds of Yemenis marched to demand that the Houthis leave.
Protesters from the February 11 Revolution movement marched along the main Zubairi road, chanting slogans against the rebels.
“We don’t want Houthis any more,” shouted the demonstrators, whose movement was behind the 2011 uprising that ousted Mr Saleh.
There were no reports of confrontations between the Houthis and the demonstrators.
The demonstrators put out a statement demanding the “withdrawal of all armed militias from the capital and the return of security forces”.
They also urged the rebels to “apologise to the Yemeni people” and implement the deal they agreed to with Mr Hadi.
The deal called for their withdrawal from Sanaa once a new prime minister is named.
However, Mr Hadi has yet to name a new premier as stipulated by the agreement.
* Agence France-Press
