Two parties quit resumed Yemen crisis talks citing Houthi threats

The Houthis "have threatened to take measures" against the Al Islah opposition party, as well as the smaller Nasserite Organisation, the latter's secretary general said.

An anti-Houthi protester shouts the slogan "Neither death nor humiliation" which is written on the Yemeni flag he is holding during a demonstration in the southwestern city of Taiz on February 9, 2015. Mohamed Al Sayaghi/ReutersShow less

SANAA // Two parties walked out of resumed talks on Yemen’s political crisis on Monday, saying they had received threats from the Shiite Houthi rebels who grabbed power last week.

Al Islah, a big opposition party that merges religious and tribal interests, and the smaller Nasserite Organisation said they had been threatened by a Houthi representative at the negotiations, Mehdi Al Meshaat.

“He (Meshaat) wanted to impose the choices of the group by force,” said Nasserite Organisation secretary general Abdullah Al Nooman, adding that the Houthis “have threatened to take measures” against his party, as well as Al Islah.

Mr Al Nooman said the Houthi militia was insisting on holding talks based on the “constitutional declaration” under which they seized power from the government on Friday.

“We will not return to the table of negotiations,” he added.

Both the Nasserite Organisation and Al Islah have rejected the Houthi power grab and called for a return to political dialogue.

The Houthis seized control of the Yemeni capital Sanaa last September after a decade-long rebellion and overran the homes of top officials last month, leading former president Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and his government to resign.

Then on Friday, the group – which is headed by Abdel-Malik Al Houthi – said it would impose a new “presidential council” on Yemen in a unilateral declaration that was initially rejected by most other factions in the country.

The militia claimed the move was designed to fill a power vacuum after the government’s resignation and also sought to portray it as a way of heading off the threat from Al Qaeda, which has a strong presence in southern and eastern Yemen.

Yemen’s UN envoy Jamal Benomar said on Sunday that “Abdel-Malik Al Houthi and all political parties in Yemen have agreed to resume dialogue ... which will begin (on Monday)”.

He called on all political leaders to “take up their responsibilities and achieve consensus” in order to reach a “peaceful solution”.

On Monday, he addressed the meeting at a Sanaa hotel saying: “The dialogue resumes from where it stopped on Thursday.”

The Houthis’ takeover of the government has drawn international condemnation, with UN chief Ban Ki-moon calling on Sunday for Mr Hadi to be restored to power.

“The situation is very, very seriously deteriorating, with the Houthis taking power and making this government vacuum. There must be restoration of legitimacy of President Hadi,” Mr Ban said.

The fall of Mr Hadi’s government has sparked fears that impoverished Yemen could plunge into chaos.

The deeply tribal country is awash with weapons and has been plagued by crisis since veteran strongman Ali Abdullah Saleh was forced from power in 2012 following a bloody year-long uprising against his rule.

Western countries fear that further chaos in Yemen could give more space to the country’s Al Qaeda branch, which has attempted to launch attacks on international airliners.

Yemen is also facing a separatist movement in the formerly independent south.

* Reuters and Agence France-Presse