The Yemeni capital Sanaa has been overrun by Houthi rebels, who have stationed their fighters at strategic points in the city, including the presidential palace.
The rebels defeated the presidential guard and have surrounded the private home of President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi, but Houthi officials said he was free to leave.
“President Hadi is still in his home. There is no problem; he can leave,” Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, a member of the Houthi politburo, told Reuters.
The Houthis, a minority Shia group, accuse the president of seeking to bypass a power-sharing deal signed when they seized Sana’a in September and say the government encourages the spread of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), which has vowed to defend Yemen's Sunni community against the Houthis.
“We … will not hesitate to impose any necessary measures to implement the peace and partnership agreement,” said the group’s leader Abdel-Malek al-Houthi.
“All the options are open and without exception and the ceiling is very, very high. And this is why, I here advise the president [to] … Implement this deal. It is for your benefit and for the benefit of your people,” he said on live television.
Clashes break out in Yemeni capital (19 January 2015)