Hadi issues first statement after fleeing house arrest
February 21, 2015
Yemen's former president Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi dismissed the actions of the Shiite Houthi militia in his first comments since fleeing house arrest in the capital, Sanaa, on Saturday.
Hadi said "all measures and appointments made since September 21 are null and illegitimate." He also urged the international community to "reject the coup" by the rebels.
Hadi signed the statement as "president" in an apparent retraction of a previous offer to resign.
A presidential aide earlier said that Hadi's resignation last month was tendered under pressure from the militia, according to the AFP news agency.
In his statement, Hadi called for a national commission to oversee the drafting of a new constitution which would see the republic become a federation.
He said the commission should meet in the southern port city of Aden or the city of Taiz until Sanaa "returns as a safe capital for all Yemenis, and the withdrawal of all armed militia." He also demanded an end to the "house arrest" of Prime Minister Khalid Bahah and other officials in Sanaa.
Hadi made an appeal to Arab states and the UN Security Council to "protect the process in Yemen... and not to legitimize the coup in any way."
lw/cmk (AP, AFP)