Coup Fears Rise in Yemen as Rebels Storm Palace
By SHUAIB ALMOSAWA and KAREEM FAHIM
New York Times
JAN. 20, 2015
SANA, Yemen — Houthi rebel militiamen seized control of the palace of Yemen’s president and clashed with guards outside his residence on Tuesday, in an escalation of the violent crisis that has gripped the capital for days and raised fears of a coup in one of the Arab world’s most impoverished and insecure states.
The president, Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi, viewed by the United States as a crucial counterterrorism ally, was believed to be in the capital, but his exact whereabouts was unknown. He made no public statements as the fighting escalated, though Houthi leaders insisted that he was safe and in his home.
Later on Tuesday, the most senior Houthi leader, Abdel Malik al-Houthi, gave a televised speech indicating that the advances by his fighters were a warning to Mr. Hadi to accelerate political changes they have demanded, and not an attempt to depose him. But if the president did not respond, Mr. Houthi said, “all necessary measures will be open.”
The mayhem that has convulsed Yemen, which left at least eight people dead on Monday in Sana, also left citizens facing a leadership vacuum as the country is seized by crises, including spreading armed conflict and widespread hunger. The turmoil has been increasingly worrisome to American officials because Yemen is the base of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which has asserted responsibility for a number of attacks, most notably the deadly assault on the Charlie Hebdo newspaper in Paris this month.
While the Houthis oppose Al Qaeda, they have vowed to curb American influence on Yemen’s government, which has cooperated for years with United States drone strikes against Qaeda leaders and their subordinates.
The deterioration in Yemen preoccupied diplomats at the United Nations Security Council, which released a statement emphasizing that President Hadi was still the recognized authority. The statement “condemned the recourse to violence” and urged dialogue.
The Houthi advance on Tuesday, and its leader’s ultimatum, cemented the group’s status as Yemen’s most powerful opposition movement.
The Houthis’ rise to prominence began in September, when Houthi fighters swept into Sana, seizing control of crucial government installations and vowing to force Mr. Hadi’s government to implement political and economic reforms. The Houthi movement, which began as an activist group seeking greater rights for Yemen’s Zaydi Shiite minority, has consolidated its control in the capital and beyond.
But Houthi fighters have caused resentment among political parties that they have attacked, misgivings among segments of the public suspicious of their heavy-handed tactics and a violent reaction from the Sunni extremists in Al Qaeda whom the Houthis have confronted.
In his speech, Mr. Houthi struck themes that have won his movement supporters, framing his fighters’ attacks in Sana as a reaction to what he called Mr. Hadi’s stubbornness and Yemen’s corrupt political class, which had “abdicated” responsibility.
Speaking against a backdrop that read “the revolution continues,” he praised Yemen’s military and appeared to reach out to regional powers, including Saudi Arabia. The Saudi monarchy views the Houthis as a proxy for its rival, Iran, and has begun withholding financial aid to Yemen’s government.
Accusing Mr. Hadi of protecting corruption, Mr. Houthi’s demands also reflected his movement’s narrow preoccupations, notably concerns about the draft constitution: The Houthis have objected to a plan that would divide Yemen into six provinces, perhaps fearing it would diminish their newly acquired power.
“This move is serious,” Mr. Houthi said of his group’s maneuvers in the capital. “We are determined, and we will never hesitate to impose any action necessary.”
A Houthi fighter near the presidential palace in Sanaa on Monday. Credit Khaled Abdullah/Reuters
April Longley Alley, a senior analyst with the International Crisis Group who is currently in Sana, said some Houthi demands “are quite legitimate.”
“It’s the means they use to implement them that are counterproductive,” she said. Their use of force to get what they want, she said, had created “a scenario where you do have the prospect of real collapse.”
On Saturday, Houthi fighters kidnapped a top aide to Mr. Hadi in broad daylight. On Monday, they battled government troops in Sana, with artillery and mortar fire falling in residential areas.
American officials in Yemen said that a United States diplomatic vehicle in Sana had come under fire Monday evening at a Houthi checkpoint near the embassy, but that nobody in the vehicle was hurt.
A fragile cease-fire that took effect Monday night was broken on Tuesday, as the Houthis demanded that guards at the presidential palace leave, and blocked roads to Mr. Hadi’s residence.
Yemen’s information minister, Nadia Sakkaf, said on her Twitter feed that the Houthis had shelled Mr. Hadi’s residence, but residents described the fighting as skirmishes between Houthi fighters and Mr. Hadi’s guards.
In Washington, an American intelligence official characterized the developments in Yemen as “very significant” and “serious,” though he saw no indications that United States Embassy personnel were in any immediate danger or that any evacuation was imminent.
In Sana, where residents have become accustomed to periodic intrusions of violence since the 2011 uprising against Mr. Hadi’s predecessor, shops opened again on Tuesday despite the turmoil.
Marwan al-Wisabi, a 23-year old receptionist who watched Mr. Houthi’s speech, said Mr. Hadi had deserved his public rebuke.
“He’s been power for three years and done nothing,” he said.
Shuaib Almosawa reported from Sana, and Kareem Fahim from Baghdad. Rick Gladstone contributed reporting from New York, Somini Sengupta from the United Nations, and Eric Schmitt from Washington.
New York Times
JAN. 20, 2015
SANA, Yemen — Houthi rebel militiamen seized control of the palace of Yemen’s president and clashed with guards outside his residence on Tuesday, in an escalation of the violent crisis that has gripped the capital for days and raised fears of a coup in one of the Arab world’s most impoverished and insecure states.
The president, Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi, viewed by the United States as a crucial counterterrorism ally, was believed to be in the capital, but his exact whereabouts was unknown. He made no public statements as the fighting escalated, though Houthi leaders insisted that he was safe and in his home.
Later on Tuesday, the most senior Houthi leader, Abdel Malik al-Houthi, gave a televised speech indicating that the advances by his fighters were a warning to Mr. Hadi to accelerate political changes they have demanded, and not an attempt to depose him. But if the president did not respond, Mr. Houthi said, “all necessary measures will be open.”
The mayhem that has convulsed Yemen, which left at least eight people dead on Monday in Sana, also left citizens facing a leadership vacuum as the country is seized by crises, including spreading armed conflict and widespread hunger. The turmoil has been increasingly worrisome to American officials because Yemen is the base of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which has asserted responsibility for a number of attacks, most notably the deadly assault on the Charlie Hebdo newspaper in Paris this month.
While the Houthis oppose Al Qaeda, they have vowed to curb American influence on Yemen’s government, which has cooperated for years with United States drone strikes against Qaeda leaders and their subordinates.
The deterioration in Yemen preoccupied diplomats at the United Nations Security Council, which released a statement emphasizing that President Hadi was still the recognized authority. The statement “condemned the recourse to violence” and urged dialogue.
The Houthi advance on Tuesday, and its leader’s ultimatum, cemented the group’s status as Yemen’s most powerful opposition movement.
The Houthis’ rise to prominence began in September, when Houthi fighters swept into Sana, seizing control of crucial government installations and vowing to force Mr. Hadi’s government to implement political and economic reforms. The Houthi movement, which began as an activist group seeking greater rights for Yemen’s Zaydi Shiite minority, has consolidated its control in the capital and beyond.
But Houthi fighters have caused resentment among political parties that they have attacked, misgivings among segments of the public suspicious of their heavy-handed tactics and a violent reaction from the Sunni extremists in Al Qaeda whom the Houthis have confronted.
In his speech, Mr. Houthi struck themes that have won his movement supporters, framing his fighters’ attacks in Sana as a reaction to what he called Mr. Hadi’s stubbornness and Yemen’s corrupt political class, which had “abdicated” responsibility.
Speaking against a backdrop that read “the revolution continues,” he praised Yemen’s military and appeared to reach out to regional powers, including Saudi Arabia. The Saudi monarchy views the Houthis as a proxy for its rival, Iran, and has begun withholding financial aid to Yemen’s government.
Accusing Mr. Hadi of protecting corruption, Mr. Houthi’s demands also reflected his movement’s narrow preoccupations, notably concerns about the draft constitution: The Houthis have objected to a plan that would divide Yemen into six provinces, perhaps fearing it would diminish their newly acquired power.
“This move is serious,” Mr. Houthi said of his group’s maneuvers in the capital. “We are determined, and we will never hesitate to impose any action necessary.”
A Houthi fighter near the presidential palace in Sanaa on Monday. Credit Khaled Abdullah/Reuters
April Longley Alley, a senior analyst with the International Crisis Group who is currently in Sana, said some Houthi demands “are quite legitimate.”
“It’s the means they use to implement them that are counterproductive,” she said. Their use of force to get what they want, she said, had created “a scenario where you do have the prospect of real collapse.”
On Saturday, Houthi fighters kidnapped a top aide to Mr. Hadi in broad daylight. On Monday, they battled government troops in Sana, with artillery and mortar fire falling in residential areas.
American officials in Yemen said that a United States diplomatic vehicle in Sana had come under fire Monday evening at a Houthi checkpoint near the embassy, but that nobody in the vehicle was hurt.
A fragile cease-fire that took effect Monday night was broken on Tuesday, as the Houthis demanded that guards at the presidential palace leave, and blocked roads to Mr. Hadi’s residence.
Yemen’s information minister, Nadia Sakkaf, said on her Twitter feed that the Houthis had shelled Mr. Hadi’s residence, but residents described the fighting as skirmishes between Houthi fighters and Mr. Hadi’s guards.
In Washington, an American intelligence official characterized the developments in Yemen as “very significant” and “serious,” though he saw no indications that United States Embassy personnel were in any immediate danger or that any evacuation was imminent.
In Sana, where residents have become accustomed to periodic intrusions of violence since the 2011 uprising against Mr. Hadi’s predecessor, shops opened again on Tuesday despite the turmoil.
Marwan al-Wisabi, a 23-year old receptionist who watched Mr. Houthi’s speech, said Mr. Hadi had deserved his public rebuke.
“He’s been power for three years and done nothing,” he said.
Shuaib Almosawa reported from Sana, and Kareem Fahim from Baghdad. Rick Gladstone contributed reporting from New York, Somini Sengupta from the United Nations, and Eric Schmitt from Washington.
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