UN warns of Yemen sanctions

Referring to an initiative brokered by the Gulf Cooperation Council aimed at solving Yemen's political crisis, a statement released by the UN Security Council on Friday said it had "called in the strongest terms for all parties, in particular the [Houthis], to abide by the GCC initiative and the national dialogue conference."

The council expressed its "grave concern" as Yemen's Shiite Houthi militia seek to tighten their grip on the country.

Friday's statement also called for the release of internationally-recognized president Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi who, along with his Cabinet, has been held under house arrest since the Shiite militia announced earlier on Friday that they had dissolved the country's parliament.

The militia announced that in a "constitutional declaration," it had also installed a provisional 551-member national body to elect a five-member presidential council.

The Houthi militia, which overran Yemen's capital back in September, had earlier called on Yemen's three political factions to "fill the vacuum" that was created after the president, prime minister and cabinet quit last month. Houthis seized the presidential palace and key government buildings on January 20.

The rebels had given a deadline of Wednesday for Yemen's leaders to fill the current political void, or else they would begin to act unilaterally.

Yemen, a key ally in US counterterrorism efforts, has been pulled apart by instability since the Arab Spring-inspired uprising which forced autocratic president Ali Abdullah Saleh from power in 2012.

ksb/bw (AFP, AP)