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Yemen’s political turmoil deepens as president, cabinet resign Yemen’s political turmoil deepens as president, cabinet resign
(about 2 hours later)
SANAA, Yemen — Yemen’s Western-backed president and the rest of the country’s leadership resigned Thursday after days of chaos that left well-armed rebels in effective control of a nation on the front lines of the U.S.-led fight against terrorism. SANAA, Yemen — Yemen’s Western-backed president and his entire cabinet resigned Thursday amid deepening turmoil that left well-armed Shiite rebels in effective control of a nation on the front lines of the U.S.-led fight against terrorism.
The resignations plunged the country into deep political uncertainty and forced the United States and its Arab allies to quickly reassess their strategies in one of the most volatile corners of the Arabian Peninsula — one where a powerful branch of al-Qaeda has established strongholds. As President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi succumbed to an apparent coup attempt by the Houthi rebels, a government official confirmed that he had lost control over the military and intelligence agencies that coordinate with the United States in counterterrorism operations.
The Houthi rebels — believed backed by Iran — now seem to hold the upper hand as the country’s de facto leaders amid a power vacuum. The resulting power vacuum appears to have left the Houthi insurgents in de facto control of Yemen during a crisis that threatens to degenerate into full-scale civil war. In addition to the Houthi rebellion, a strong separatist movement in the south and pockets of al-Qaeda-linked fighters, the country is also beset by an acute water shortage.
[Read: What you need to know about the ongoing tumult in Yemen] The resignations likely set off alarms in Sunni Arab capitals, especially neighboring Saudi Arabia, which backed Hadi’s government with billions of dollars and views the Houthis as a proxy for its foremost regional rival, Iran.
Days of rapid advances by the Houthi fighters had already left them in charge of the political direction of Yemen. Hadi and his government resigned en masse after agreeing to a power-sharing deal Wednesday that extended the Houthis’ control over Yemen. The 69-year-old president, a former major general, initially appeared ready to ride out the turmoil under the arrangement with the rebels.
The showdown atmosphere appeared to ease Wednesday after the announcement of a power-sharing accord that left room for President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi — who had been pinned down in his residence — to remain in his post. But government officials accused the insurgents, led by Abdulmalik al-Houthi, of failing to uphold their side of the agreement, refusing to pull back from positions surrounding the presidential palace and residence and continuing to hold a Hadi aide who was kidnapped by the group on Saturday.
It unraveled suddenly a day later with Yemen’s leadership apparently balking at the deal. “They have been applying too much pressure on him,” presidential adviser Yaseen Makawi said by telephone. Hadi “had no choice but to resign,” Makawi said.
A government spokesman, Rageh Badi, said resignations were submitted by the entire Yemeni cabinet. Moments later, Yemen-based media reported that the president also would step down. In a statement announcing his resignation, the president alluded to the Houthi offensive, which began in September, as the reason for his resignation, although he did not mention the insurgent group by name.
In a resignation letter to the Yemeni parliament, Hadi said: “I have found myself incapable of achieving the goal I wanted to reach, as I have endured a lot of suffering and abandonment and lack of participation in taking the responsibility from the political parties in order to bring Yemen to a safe path.” He apologized to the parliament and the nation, saying that now “we have reached a dead end.” “I would like to apologize personally to you and to the parliament and to the Yemeni people now that we have reached a dead end,” he said in the statement, which was reported widely in Yemeni media.
Badi gave no further details of the cabinet’s mass resignation, but Prime Minister Khaled Bahah posted on his Facebook page that he resigned to avoid being drawn “into an abyss” of policies “based on no law.” Prime Minister Khaled Bahah, who was besieged by the Houthis at his palace earlier this week, said in a Facebook posting that he resigned to avoid being drawn “into an abyss” of policies “based on no law.”
“We don’t want to be a party to what is happening or will happen,” he added, the Associated Press reported. “We don’t want to be a party to what is happening or will happen,” he added.
Military officials quoted by the AP said Hadi resigned after the Houthis pressured him to give a televised address seeking to calm the streets. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief journalists. One of Hadi’s advisers, Sultan al-Atwani, said the mass resignations resulted from frustration over the Houthis’ stripping the president of all powers — including over the military and intelligence agencies — despite signing the power-sharing deal. Atwani added that he no longer had the authority to coordinate with a U.S. drone program that attacks militants from Yemen’s powerful al-Qaeda affiliate, known as al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).
The government was formed in November as part of a U.N.-brokered peace deal after the Houthis overran the capital two months earlier. Hadi, who took office in 2012, was seen as a key partner for U.S. drone strikes and other efforts seeking to cripple al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), which claimed a role in the terrorist bloodshed earlier this month in Paris. Hadi, who took power in 2012 after an Arab Spring uprising led to the ouster of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, became a key counterterrorism ally of Washington against AQAP.
The Houthis now could have greater sway over Yemen’s military and intelligence services, raising concerns of greater capabilities and firepower if the nation spills into full-scale civil war. “Hadi has lost control of the military. He doesn’t have the power to give orders to the military,” Atwani said by telephone.
The fast-moving developments also raised questions about the future of U.S. counterterrorism cooperation in Yemen — although the Houthis consider al-Qaeda as a rival. There was no immediate response from officials in Washington.
In Washington, the State Department said it would assess the U.S. diplomatic presence in Yemen as the situation unfolds but that no immediate changes were being planned. The government was formed in November as part of a U.N.-brokered peace deal after the Houthis overran the capital in September and captured large swaths of territory, including nine provincial capitals.
The rebels, meanwhile, sought to strengthen their grip on the country with attacks in central Marib province, the country’s main oil and gas region. Yemen’s exports are tiny compared with energy-rich neighbors in the region, but the revenue is critical in the Arab world’s most impoverished nation. It was not immediately clear whether the rebels now have full control over the intelligence branches, but analysts said the events put continued Yemeni counterterrorism coordination with the United States — notably on the drone program — in serious doubt.
Tribal leaders said their militiamen had held off an attempt by Houthi units to capture an army base in Marib, the Reuters news agency reported. “It’s expected that the Houthis are going to change the composition and focus of the intelligence services to gear them toward maintaining Houthi influence, primarily,” said Lina Khatib, director of the Carnegie Middle East Center. “This would divert attention away from counterterrorism operations.”
In the southern city of Aden, the airport and seaports were reopened Thursday, a day after they were closed by authorities fearing a widening of the unrest, news agencies reported. Houthi officials have said they do not support the drone program, which they describe as a violation of Yemen’s sovereignty, although they also oppose AQAP. Houthis are Zaydis, a branch of Shiite Islam whose followers form roughly a third of Yemen’s population of 24 million. Although natural enemies of Sunni al-Qaeda, the Houthis would likely halt participation in the drone program because it is highly unpopular among Yemenis, who have been angered by civilian casualties from the airstrikes, said Ali Shantoor, a retired Yemeni brigadier general.
The agreement Wednesday between the two sides called for the Houthis to end their siege of the president’s residence and call off their offensive, which the Yemeni government and regional Arab states decried as a coup attempt. “Abdulmalik al-Houthi and the Houthis will refuse to cooperate with the United States in carrying out drone attacks,” he said. “They’ve always said that they reject the United States’ control and its violation of the sovereignty of the country.”
Hadi agreed to the deal after Houthi rebels seized his presidential palace and surrounded his residence about three miles away, according to aides. Houthis have been battling AQAP during their assaults. AQAP claimed responsibility for a Jan. 7 attack in Paris on the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, triggering three days of violence that left 20 people dead, including the three perpetrators.
Hours before the pact, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters that Hadi remains the head of “the legitimate Yemeni government” and that “we remain in touch with him.” She said U.S. counter­terrorism cooperation with his government is continuing “at this point in time.” The Houthi rebels, meanwhile, appeared to be preparing an advance on central Marib province, the country’s main oil and gas region. Yemen’s exports are tiny compared with energy-rich neighbors in the region, but the revenue is critical in the Arab world’s most impoverished nation.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the Obama administration was monitoring the situation “minute by minute.” The Houthis attempted to seize an army base about 90 miles from Marib in preparation for a likely assault on the province, said Ali al-Ghulaisi, a spokesman for Marib’s governor. He said military officials, tribal leaders and party chiefs gathered in the province’s main city Wednesday to discuss preparations in the event of a Houthi attack.
“We’ll take whatever steps are necessary to protect American citizens up to and including evacuating the embassy if we determine that’s necessary,” he told reporters. The Houthi attack on the military base “is an attempt to increase the areas they control, in addition to securing supply lines for them, so that they can attack Marib,” Ghulaisi said by telephone.
The fighting has been the most intense since the Houthis stormed into the capital in September and began taking control of Yemen’s institutions, as well as at least nine provincial capitals.
In a televised speech Tuesday evening, the Houthi leader, Abdulmalik al-Houthi, threatened Hadi with more attacks if he did not give in.In a televised speech Tuesday evening, the Houthi leader, Abdulmalik al-Houthi, threatened Hadi with more attacks if he did not give in.
The rebels’ demands included a bigger role in drafting a new constitution acceptable to the Houthis, who have waged an intermittent war against the government since 2004. The majority of Yemen’s population is Sunni Muslim.The rebels’ demands included a bigger role in drafting a new constitution acceptable to the Houthis, who have waged an intermittent war against the government since 2004. The majority of Yemen’s population is Sunni Muslim.
The Houthi assault alarmed Yemen’s neighbors, especially Sunni Arab states such as Saudi Arabia, which see the Shiite insurgents as proxies for Iran. Earlier Wednesday, foreign ministers from the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council, or GCC, harshly condemned the assault, calling it a “coup d’etat.” On Wednesday, foreign ministers from the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council harshly condemned the assault, calling it a “coup d’etat.”
Hadi, who came to power in 2012 after a popular uprising led to the ouster of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, fostered unprecedented cooperation between Yemeni forces and the U.S. military in using drone strikes to target al-Qaeda militants. For Saudi Arabia, in particular, the ascendance of a Shiite-dominated state on its doorstep represents a strategic threat. It sees Iranian proxies consolidating power on its southern border with Yemen and on the northern one with Iraq, which is led by a Shiite government that has growing political, military and economic ties with Tehran, said Mustafa Alani, director of security and terrorism at the Geneva-based Gulf Research Center.
However, civilian casualties as a result of the attacks angered many Yemenis. “This is becoming a strategic nightmare for Saudi,” he said. Riyadh fears Iran is building a “Hezbollah-like mini-state in Yemen,” he added, referring to Lebanon’s dominant Shiite movement that is a staunch ally of Tehran.
The Houthis have long demanded more political rights and an end to what they charge is official discrimination. They have portrayed their assault on the capital as part of a campaign to end corruption and initiate reforms that many Yemenis see as having stalled under Hadi’s leadership. The Houthis reject accusations that they are Iranian proxies. They have defend their offensive as an attempt to root out corruption.
The Houthis, who follow the Zaydi sect of Shiite Islam, reject accusations that they are acting as a proxy for Iran, which is led by Shiite clerics. Zaydis form about a third or more of Yemen’s population. Naylor reported from Beirut. Brian Murphy and William Branigin in Washington contributed to this report.
Murphy reported from Washington and Naylor from Beirut. Daniela Deane in London contributed to this report.