Houthi Fighters Hold Yemen's Presidential Palace, Despite Deal - New York Times

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Houthis on Thursday atop an armored vehicle, which had been seized outside the house of President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi in Sana, Yemen. Credit Hani Mohammed/Associated Press

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SANA, Yemen — Houthi militiamen remained in control of Yemen’s presidential palace on Thursday, a day after President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi and the Houthi leadership agreed to a deal aimed at defusing a violent crisis that had gripped the capital for days.

The Houthis had agreed to pull back their fighters from central installations in Sana, the capital, including the palace, in exchange for several political concessions from Mr. Hadi, such as amendments to a draft constitution. The deal was widely seen as a victory for the Houthis, who have repeatedly used military force as a cudgel during political negotiations.

Another central provision of the agreement — the immediate release of one of Mr. Hadi’s top aides — also remained unfulfilled early Thursday. Yemen’s information minister, Nadia Sakkaf, said on Twitter that the aide, Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak, “is still #Houthis hostage despite deal.”

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“They got what they want,” she continued. “Why should they fulfill their promise?”

There were also signs of halting progress. Outside Mr. Hadi’s residence, Houthi fighters who had been besieging the site appeared to have been replaced by plainclothes guards from Mr. Hadi’s home province, Abyan.

Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, a member of the Houthi political bureau, said negotiations were continuing over the implementation of the agreement.

He said that there were no Houthi fighters around Mr. Hadi’s residence and confirmed that Mr. bin Mubarak had not been freed.

In signing the deal, the Houthis stopped short of a military takeover of the government, an outcome that analysts said the Houthi leadership preferred. Since taking over parts of the capital in September, the Houthis have become Yemen’s de facto ruling power, exerting control over important ministries, and increasingly, the country’s security forces. At the same time, they have been able to lay blame for continuing challenges — including corruption and meager government services throughout the country — at the feet of Mr. Hadi and his leadership.

With the crisis in Sana starting to ease, many in Yemen were looking nervously to Marib, a province east of the capital, as a point of contention for the tensions unleashed by the Houthis’ military advances.

The Houthis are eager to assert their control in the province, where much of Yemen’s oil infrastructure is and which is seen as a strategic gateway to other parts of the country. The Houthis’ plans have prompted resistance and a furious reaction from Sunni tribesmen in the province, including some aligned with Islah, Yemen’s most prominent Sunni Islamist movement — now eviscerated by the Houthis, who had considered it a hated rival.

Saudi Arabia, which has recoiled at what it sees as the Houthis’ strong ties to Iran, has begun sending aid to the tribes in Marib, according to diplomats, raising fears that the province will become a focal point for an escalating proxy war.

Shuaib Almosawa reported from Sana, Yemen, and Kareem Fahim from Baghdad.

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