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Yemeni president demands Houthis quit Sanaa; US evacuates remaining forces

Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi accused the Iranian-allied Houthi militia on Saturday of staging a coup against him and appealed to the United Nations for "urgent intervention", even as the United States evacuated its remaining forces.

 

In a call to arms from the southern city of Aden, where he fled last month after escaping house arrest by the Houthis, Hadi called on them to pull their forces out of state ministries, return weapons seized from the army and quit the capital, Sanaa.

 

The UN Security Council was set to meet on Sunday to discuss Yemen after Hadi appealed to the 15-member body for assistance "in all available means to stop this aggression".

 

Yemen has been hurtling towards civil war since last year when the Houthis seized Sanaa and advanced into Sunni Muslim areas, leading to clashes with local tribes and energising a southern separatist movement.

 

US officials said Washington had evacuated its remaining personnel from Yemen, including about 100 special operations forces, because of deteriorating security, marking a further setback in US efforts against a powerful local al Qaeda branch.

 


פרסום ראשון: 03.22.15, 07:59