Houthi rebels and supporters of Saleh say ‘all causes of tension’ removed

The Houthi rebels and their allies in the Yemen war, supporters of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, claimed yesterday that they had agreed to ease tensions between them after three people were killed in a clash.

Signs of strain between the two sides spilt into the open when violence broke out on Saturday, marking a breakdown within the main political coalition fighting the Saudi-backed government of president Abdrabu Mansur Hadi in the two-and-a-halfyear conflict.

In an attempt to repair relations, delegations led by Aref Al Zouka, head of Mr Saleh’s General People’s Congress (GPC), and the Houthi Ansarullah group’s official spokesman, Mohammed Abdulsalam, met in the Yemeni capital Sanaa on Monday.

The two sides decided to “remove all causes of the tensions that occurred in Sanaa and to return the security situation to what it was before the activities last week”, they said after the meeting, according to Reuters.

The Iran-aligned Houthis and Saleh loyalists together rule northern Yemen and have maintained an uneasy alliance throughout the conflict, which has led to the deaths of at least 10,000 people, displaced millions and unleashed hunger and disease.

Mr Saleh ruled Yemen for more than 30 years before he was toppled in 2012.

An anniversary rally last week to commemorate his party’s founding aroused the ire of the Houthis, who viewed it as a show of force meant to undermine them.

Tensions boiled over on Saturday when Houthi fighters set up a security checkpoint near the home of Mr Saleh’s son and his media office.

Two Houthi fighters were killed, as was Col Khaled Al Radhi, who served as a senior official in the GPC.

Both sides agreed to close ranks and “unify efforts to confront the aggression”, referring to the Saudi-led military campaign in Yemen.

The Saudi-led coalition intervened in 2015 in an effort to restore Mr Hadi’s internationally-recognised government to power after the Houthi rebels seized the capital and entered into alliance with Mr Saleh.

Houthis took offence at celebrations to mark the founding of Saleh’s GPC and tensions between the groups boiled over