SANAA: Hundreds of Yemenis demonstrated in Sanaa on Sunday demanding that Houthi rebels who had seized control of the capital last week leave, a day after the Shiite fighters attacked the home of the intelligence chief.
The Houthis, named after a Zaydi tribe based in the city of Saada some 540 km to the north, have refused to quit Sanaa despite an agreement signed last Sunday to make the Houthis a part of the government.
Witnesses said activists chanted slogans against President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi for his apparent weakness before the Houthi fighters.
“You Hadi, find a solution, or else turn around and depart,” demonstrators chanted.
Witnesses said armed Houthi tribesmen, who had been patrolling the streets and operating checkpoints on key Sanaa intersections, did not try to stop the demonstration.
Yemenis are showing signs of discontent with the Houthis who have raided a number of homes as they continue to patrol Sanaa, especially around government buildings, and to search passers-by.
On Saturday, Houthi fighters tried to fight their way into the home of Yemen’s intelligence chief in Sanaa, in a clash that left one soldier and two tribesmen dead.
The incident, which also wounded six soldiers and nine Houthis, showed the fragility of the power-sharing deal.
“We have three demands,” Mohammed Al-Nu’aimi, one of the organizers of the protest, told Reuters. “First to get the militias out, to return weapons that have been seized and to stop the violations committed by the group toward its opponents.
Nu’aimi said the Houthis should be barred from sitting in the government unless they implemented these demands.