Yemen’s Hadi calls on Houthis to leave capital

The statement was made as US special forces evacuated a base due to Al Qaeda seizing a nearby city.

A Yemeni men, wounded in the mosque attacks in Sanaa the day before, receives treatment at a hospital in the capital on March 21, 2015. Mohammed Huwais/AFP Photo

ADEN // Yemen’s president Abdrabu Mansur Hadi on Saturday called on the Houthi militia to leave the capital Sanaa and for its allied militias to quit government ministries in his first televised speech since escaping house arrest last month.

Mr Hadi urged all parties in Yemen to attend peace talks in the Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh, but also vowed to plant the national flag in the Houthi stronghold of Saadeh, in a comment the group is likely to interpret as a call to arms.

The Shiite Houthis, who are allied to Iran, seized Sanaa in September and then besieged Mr Hadi’s residence in January, leading him to offer his resignation and resulting in his house arrest by the group before he escaped to Aden last month.

Mr Hadi and the Houthis have since then commanded rival power centres in north and south Yemen, leading to fears of a full-scale civil war, and giving Sunni militant groups such as Al Qaeda more space to operate.

Mr Hadi said Yemen must return to the political situation in place before the Houthis took control of Sanaa, reinstituting its constitution and implementing the results of a national dialogue process and Gulf-sponsored political transition.

In his speech, he denounced the Houthis as “coup plotters” and said he wanted to confront sectarianism. Addressing Houthi accusations that he planned to back a southern secessionist movement, he said his flight to Aden had been intended to preserve Yemeni unity.

Meanwhile, Yemeni military and security officials say a group of US military forces, including special forces commandos, have evacuated an air base after Al Qaeda seized a nearby city.

The officials say the troops are leaving the Al Anad air base near the southern city of Al Houta. The officials did not say whether the troops left the country.

There are some 100 American troops and special forces commandos believed to be stationed there.

US officials declined to immediately comment Saturday.

Al Qaeda’s local branch is considered by Washington to be the group’s most dangerous offshoot. The US has carried out a series of drone strikes in Yemen targeting suspected militants.

Al Qaeda militants took Al Houta on Friday. Their offensive comes as Shiite rebels hold the capital and nine of Yemen’s 21 provinces.

The Houthis appeared to be preparing for a new offensive on Saturday, issuing a call to arms to battle forces still loyal to Mr Hadi.

* Reuters, Associated Press