|
By Staff Writers, teleSUR
teleSUR
Saturday, Jan 24, 2015
 |
| Supporters of the separatist Southern Movement demonstrate to demand the separation of the south Yemen, in the country's southern port city of Aden. | Photo: Reuters |
Thousands of protesters took to the streets of the Yemen Friday, to stage rival rallies for and against the Houthi movement.
“Death to America, Death to Israel,” Houthi supporters chanted in the capital Sanaa, according to Al Jazeera.
Elsewhere in the divided country, anti-Houthi protesters cried coup, and demanded the group's fighters leave the capital.
The Houthis are an armed Shiite Zaidi group that seized a sizable chunk of Yemen's northwest amid anti-government protests in 2011.
They now control Sanaa, after leading a wave of protests that led to the sudden collapse of the U.S.-backed government of Prime Minister Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi earlier this week. Hadi supporters say the former prime minister is now under virtual house arrest, and have accused the movement of polarizing the country.
Anonymous U.S. officials told Reuters Friday some counter-terrorism operations have been frozen since Hadi's resignation, though they claimed controversial drone programs are still operational. Drones are the backbone of U.S. counter-terrorism operations in Yemen, which target al-Qaida.
Just four months ago, President Barack Obama described the counter-terrorism partnership between the United States and Yemen's President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi as a “successful” model for the region.
However, Yemen remains the base of operations of al Qaida's Gulf affiliate, AQAP.
White House spokesperson Josh Earnest stated the rise of the Houthi doesn't mean AQAP will have a free hand in Yemen.
“The Houthi rebels are not in line with AQAP. In fact, they are enemies. The fact that there is this instability in Yemen does not mean that AQAP is gaining influence,” he stated.
Source URL
|
 Print This
|
Print This 