Yemen: Shi’ite Houthi rebels announce they are taking over the government and dissolving parliament

By Robert Spencer / Jihad Watch

 

This is another victory for Iran, which backs the Houthis with money and weaponry. Iran now has control or significant influence in Baghdad, Damascus, Beirut and Sanaa. Only the Islamic State and Saudi Arabia are in the way.

“Yemen crisis: Houthi rebels ‘announce takeover,'” BBC, February 6, 2015 (thanks to Bill):

Yemen’s Shia Houthi rebel movement has announced it is taking over the government and dissolving parliament.

In a televised statement, the group said a five-member council would act as the president for an interim period.

The group took control of the capital Sanaa in September, forcing the resignation of President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi in January.

The announcement comes after the failure of UN-brokered peace talks.

The Houthis set a Wednesday deadline for political parties to reach an agreement on ending the country’s political turmoil, threatening to act unilaterally otherwise.

The rebels move would mark “a new era that will take Yemen to safe shores”, the statement said, according to Associated Press.

The declaration is the final stage of what many Yemenis have seen for months as a Houthi coup.

Government decisions will now be dictated by revolutionary committees, dominated by the rebels….

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