Sana’a: Al Houthi militants who seized power in Yemen vowed to defy “threats” as the UN Security Council prepared to adopt a resolution Sunday calling on them to step aside or face consequences.
Yemen is a traditional US ally in the fight against Al Qaida, but the impoverished Arabian Peninsula country has descended into chaos since the militia known as Al Houthis overran the capital in September.
Another city they captured last year, Ibb in central Yemen, was the scene of violence on Sunday when Al Houthis fired live rounds to disperse hundreds of protesters, wounding several of them.
Following their seizure of Sana’a and Ibb, matters worsened when they ousted the government and dissolved parliament on February 6, tightening their grip after Western-backed President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi resigned in protest at their advance.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has warned Yemen is falling apart and called for Hadi’s reinstatement.
Citing security concerns, nine Arab and Western countries shuttered their embassies in Yemen last week and evacuated diplomats.
The Security Council is expected to adopt a resolution Sunday calling on the militia to withdraw their forces from government and security institutions “immediately and unconditionally”.
It also urges the Al Houthis to “engage in good faith in the UN-brokered negotiations” led by special envoy Jamal Benomar and to release Hadi, his Prime Minister Khaled Bahah, as well as other officials and activists under de facto house arrest or in detention.
According to Western diplomats, Russia, which is already under US and European sanctions over its annexation of Crimea and backing of rebels in eastern Ukraine, was reluctant to vote for sanctions.
The text marks the Security Council’s first resolution on Yemen since the Al Houthis ousted the government and parliament, in a move the United States and Gulf Arab countries have described as a “coup”.
At a Riyadh meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council on Saturday, Yemen’s neighbours urged the UN to evoke Chapter Seven of the United Nations Charter, which allows for economic and military pressure to enforce Council decisions.
They said they themselves would act if the rival factions fail to resolve their differences, without elaborating.
Al Houthi spokesman Mohammad Abdul Salam, quoted Sunday by the official Saba news agency which is under the militia’s control, insisted that “the Yemeni people won’t cede power in the face of threats.”
Abdul Salam said Yemenis were “engaged in a process of self-determination free of any (foreign) tutelage”.
He denounced as “provocative blackmail” demands for the Al Houthis to relinquish power and criticised the withdrawal of ambassadors.
In their bid to establish authority across Yemen since sweeping down from their mountainous northern stronghold in September, the militiamen have tried to stifle opposition and have been accused of detaining and torturing opponents.
They announced a ban on anti-Al Houthi protests last week, unless authorised by the interior ministry under their control, and have repeatedly fired live rounds to disperse demonstrations in Sana’a as well the central city Ibb, which they overran last year.
The family of a demonstrator detained by the Al Houthis last week at a protest against their takeover said he had died late Friday of torture wounds suffered in captivity.
Another two protesters who were held with him have been hospitalised after being found wounded and left on a street.
On Sunday, several protesters were wounded in Ibb when the Al Houthis fired live rounds to disperse hundreds who took to the streets demanding the release of activist Ahmad Hazzaa, witnesses said.
Hazzaa, a leader of the anti-Al Houthi Rafdh (rejection) Movement, was detained on Saturday in Ibb by Al Houthi militants, members of his group told AFP.
The Al Houthis are accused of receiving support from Iran which had criticised the “hasty action” of closing embassies in Sana’a, and insisted the Al Houthis were fighting “corruption and terrorism”.
Among the countries that have closed their embassies and pulled out their staff are Britain, France, Germany and the United States. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have taken similar action.
