SANAA — The Yemeni leader who resigned the presidency last month and fled to the country's south on Saturday said all actions taken since Shiite rebels stormed the capital, Sanaa, last September are illegitimate, hinting that he will seek to reclaim his power and office. The move exacerbates worries over a regional breakup and further instability in the volatile country, the Arab world's poorest and home to a powerful Al-Qaeda affiliate. The rebels, known as Houthis, control Sanaa and several major cities, while the south is largely free from their rule and officials there have rejected the rebel takeover amid talk of a potential secession. In a statement signed as “president of the republic” from the southern port city of Aden, Abedrabbu Mansour Hadi called for a national dialogue there or in the city of Taiz, another area not under Houthi control, and demanded the rebels leave Sanaa. He said he supports the power transfer plan backed by Gulf countries after Yemen's 2011 Arab Spring uprising, which envisaged him taking office from predecessor Ali Abdullah Saleh until elections. He also called on military and security forces to support him, and demanded the Houthis release members of his former Cabinet who are still under house arrest in Sanaa. An official from Hadi's office, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief journalists, said that Hadi had resigned during an “unnatural situation” while he was under house arrest. He left Sanaa on Saturday after the rebels who had surrounded his home for several weeks released him under international and local pressure, aides close to him said, although the rebels said later in a statement that he had made a furtive escape. Earlier, Hadi's aides said he planned to leave the country for medical treatment. Witnesses said the Houthis and others in the area later ransacked Hadi's house and people were seen removing automatic rifles from the building. The spokesman for Yemen's embassy in Washington, Mohammed Albasha, said on Twitter that Hadi and his family had arrived safely in Aden, but that his press secretary had been detained. Jamal Benomar, the UN envoy to Yemen, said on Friday that rival factions, including the Houthis, had agreed on a new legislative body consisting of former and new lawmakers to serve during the country's upcoming transition period, although those prospects seemed bleak after Hadi's defiant comments. — Reuters
