29-03-2024 08:24 AM Jerusalem Timing

Yemen Houthi Leader Urges Mass anti-Gov’t Protests

Yemen Houthi Leader Urges Mass anti-Gov’t Protests

The leader of Yemen’s Houthi group has called on supporters to take to the streets in large numbers nationwide on Monday to demand the dismissal of Prime Minister Mohammad Basindawa’s government.

Yemen: Sayyed Abdul-Malik Al-HouthiThe leader of Yemen's Houthi group has called on supporters to take to the streets in large numbers nationwide on Monday to demand the dismissal of Prime Minister Mohammad Basindawa's government.

In a televised speech carried by the group's Al-Massira channel, Sayyed Abdul-Malik al-Houthi gave President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi until Friday to sack the government.

Otherwise, he warned without elaborating, "escalatory options" would be considered.

Houthi accused Basindawa's government of "incompetence" and making "false" promises, urging members of the army and security forces to join the planned protests and not become "a tool in the hand of a tyrant."

The invitation to demonstrate comes amid fierce clashes in the northern parts of the country between the group on one hand and the army and allied tribes on the other.

Yemen has been dogged by turmoil since anti-regime protests forced autocratic president Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down in 2012 after 33 years in power.

Several rounds of subsequent fighting in Yemen have left thousands dead.

Houthis have also been battling Salafist groups in several other parts of the crisis-plagued nation.