Rebels surround Yemen prime minister
January 19, 2015
Late Monday, Houthi fighters surrounded the residence of Prime Minister Khaled Bahah in Yemen's capital, Sanaa, government officials said. Witnesses also said that Houthi fighters had surrounded the palace.
"The gunmen have surrounded the palace and the prime minister is inside," government spokesman Rajeh Badi said.
Both Yemen's military and Houthis accuse each other of instigating combat earlier Monday, when gunfire broke out near the presidential palace, one of a comparatively few sites in Sanaa still under government control. The fighting marks the Houthis' biggest challenge yet to President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, who is not believed to live at the palace.
'Toward a coup'
Earlier Monday, Houthi gunmen had attacked Prime Minister Bahah's motorcade after he left a meeting with the president and an adviser to the rebels to try to resolve bitter disagreements over a draft constitution. Following the implementation of a ceasefire, residents of Sanaa told news agencies that the intense artillery and gun battles that had erupted earlier in the day appeared to have tailed off.
During the standoff, the former journalist Nadia Sakkaf, recently appointed Yemen's information minister, told the Associated Press news agency that Houthis had seized control of state television and the Saba news agency. "This is a step toward a coup and it is targeting the state's legitimacy," Sakkaf said.
Over the weekend, talks to establish a new national constitution led Houthi rebels to take a presidential aide prisoner.
mkg/bw (Reuters, AFP)