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Yemen’s Former Leader, Held by Rebels, Flees Capital Yemen’s Former Leader, Held by Rebels, Leaves Capital
(about 2 hours later)
SANA, Yemen — Yemen’s former president, held under house arrest for the past month by Houthi militants controlling the country, on Saturday left the capital amid conflicting reports about whether he had been released voluntarily or escaped from his captors. SANA, Yemen — To hear the Houthi militants who control this capital describe it, the country’s former president escaped from house arrest on Saturday by dressing as a woman, wearing a long black chador covering all but his eyes.
Early Saturday, Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi left his home in Sana, the capital, where he had been confined by the Houthis since he resigned on Jan. 22 along with the rest of his cabinet. Mr. Hadi headed to Aden, in southern Yemen, according to an official with the United Nations in Sana, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press. One Western official recounted a story he had heard: that the leader then climbed into a food truck, negotiating the Houthis’ scores of armed checkpoints through the capital and along hundreds of miles of highway undetected amid frozen meat.
Traveling overland in a convoy of dozens of vehicles, Mr. Hadi reached Aden by afternoon, and took up residence in the presidential palace there, according to Agence France-Presse. Alternatively, all of that was just so much face-saving spin, in the view of many observers here, and the Houthis, possibly with tacit support from the United Nations, simply allowed the former president, Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi, to leave his home as part of the negotiations to reach a political agreement among the country’s feuding parties.
The United Nations official said it was clear that the Houthi militants who control Sana and much of northern Yemen, and dominate its military and police forces, had allowed Mr. Hadi to pass through their lines, but added that it was not clear whether he had passed in disguise or openly. Whether he escaped or was let go, by the end of Saturday, Mr. Hadi was in his hometown, Aden, in southern Yemen, where anti-Houthi and secessionist sentiment runs strong.
A Western diplomat in Sana said there were reports that Mr. Hadi had hidden in a food truck. It was the latest chapter in the political unrest that has convulsed Yemen for months now, raising concerns that the crisis will undermine Yemen’s longstanding cooperation with the United States’ counterterrorism campaign here and help strengthen Yemen’s dangerous branch of Al Qaeda.
Mr. Hadi’s release had been demanded by the United Nations Security Council in a unanimous resolution, which also called for the release of his cabinet members. Most of them, including the country’s prime minister, have also been under house arrest since their resignations. It was not immediately clear whether they were also released from house arrest on Saturday, although earlier this month the interior and defense ministers, as well as some top intelligence officials from Mr. Hadi’s government, had joined with the Houthis to try to form a new government. Mr. Hadi, along with most of his cabinet members and his prime minister, had been under house arrest since their resignation Jan. 22, and the country has been leaderless since then, although the Houthis have control of the military, the capital and large swaths of northern and central Yemen.
A second United Nations official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the delicate nature of the discussions, said that Mr. Hadi’s release had been promised by the Houthis as part of the interim agreement reached Friday between the Houthis and other political factions with the help of United Nations mediators. On the eve of Mr. Hadi’s escape, or release, the Houthis and their political rivals reached a United Nations-mediated agreement on forming a joint legislative council, the first sign of a breakthrough in protracted talks to try to form a new government.
That agreement provided for the formation of a national council, composed of the existing Parliament plus a new interim council, which would pass legislation intended to pave the way for a new government. The interim council would include Houthis and other Yemeni factions who feel disenfranchised by Yemen’s current government — a major complaint of the Houthi militants who took control of Sana last September, finally forcing Mr. Hadi to step down last month. Traveling overland in a convoy of dozens of vehicles, Mr. Hadi reached Aden by afternoon and took up residence in the presidential palace there, according to Agence France-Presse. Witnesses said the convoy was unarmed, raising questions about why Houthi militants and military units they control did not interfere with it.
That interim council would also draw 50 percent of its members from southern Yemen. Many leaders in the south have warned of the danger of secession if the Houthis maintain control of the central government. North and South Yemen were long separate states and broke apart once before after having reunited. The Houthis are a northern tribal-based faction, dominated by members of the minority Zaydi sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam. Most Yemenis are Sunni Muslims. Jamal Benomar, the United Nations mediator in Yemen, said in a statement posted on his Facebook page, “The United Nations had no involvement with President Hadi leaving Sana for Aden.”
Since forcing Mr. Hadi from power, the Houthis have been increasingly isolated internationally, as the United States and nearly all other Western countries have closed their embassies, and the World Bank last Wednesday shut down its operations in the country. Saudi Arabia, which views the Houthis as an Iranian-sponsored force, also closed its embassy, underscoring its threat to withhold $4 billion in annual aid to Yemen as long as the Houthis were in power. Yemen, the poorest country in the Middle East, is heavily dependent on Saudi, Western and World Bank aid. In a unanimous resolution last week, the United Nations Security Council demanded the release of Mr. Hadi and his cabinet members.
Despite their use of the slogan “death to America,” and their longstanding opposition to American drone strikes against Al Qaeda in Yemen, the Houthis have done nothing to interfere with the American counterinsurgency campaign. Once in Aden on Saturday, Mr. Hadi called on the Houthis to release the remaining members of his cabinet from house arrest and to meet with him and other political figures in a city, like Taiz or Aden, that is not under their control, according to Al Jazeera, which read from a statement attributed to Mr. Hadi. He also called the Houthi takeover a coup and signed the statement as president, suggesting that he had withdrawn his earlier resignation, which he gave while he was besieged by Houthi militants.
American military officials have said that Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, as the group in Yemen is known, is the most serious international terrorism threat, and they have vowed to continue their operations against its fighters. Houthi spokesmen declined to comment on Mr. Hadi’s departure. The Guardian quoted a Houthi spokesman, Ali al-Gohoum, in the group’s base in the northern city of Saada as saying that Mr. Hadi had sneaked out of his home by disguising himself as a woman. All Yemeni women routinely wear the full-length black abaya, which covers everything but their eyes.
On Friday night, Yemeni officials said a drone strike in the remote Shabwa Province in southeastern Yemen killed three Qaeda militants. Last week, Al Qaeda captured the headquarters of the Yemen National Army’s 19th Brigade in Shabwa. A United Nations official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the delicate nature of the discussions, said officials had expected the Houthis to release Mr. Hadi once there was a political agreement.
The Qaeda militants have claimed that the Americans have carried out five drone strikes against them in the weeks since the Houthis forced Mr. Hadi’s resignation. The Houthis and Al Qaeda are bitter opponents, with Al Qaeda trying to depict itself as the defender of the Sunni majority against an Iranian proxy force. That agreement provides for the formation of a national council, composed of the existing Parliament plus a new interim council, which would pass legislation intended to pave the way for a new government. But it does not provide for choosing a new president or cabinet.
The interim council would include Houthis and member of other Yemeni factions who felt disenfranchised under the Hadi government— a major complaint of the Houthi militants who took control of Sana in September.
That council would also draw 50 percent of its members from southern Yemen. Many leaders in the south have warned of the danger of secession if the Houthis maintain control of the central government. The Houthis are members of a northern tribal-based faction, dominated by adherents of the minority Zaydi sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam. Most Yemenis are Sunni.
Since forcing Mr. Hadi from power, the Houthis have been increasingly isolated internationally, as the United States and nearly all other Western countries shut their embassies. Saudi Arabia, which views the Houthis as an Iranian-sponsored force, also closed its embassy, underscoring its threat to withhold $4 billion in annual aid to Yemen as long as the Houthis are in power.