More than 900,000 Yemenis gathered in Sana’a with flags and pictures of the newly-elected Political Council leader Saleh al-Sammad to show their support on Saturday.
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Air strikes have intensified since the suspension of peace talks between the Hadi government and the rebels in Kuwait earlier this month.
People hold a poster of Yemen’s former president Ali Abdullah Saleh as they demonstrate outside a parliament session held for the first time since a civil war began nearly two years ago, in Sanaa, Yemen August 13, 2016.
In apparent response to the Houthi show of force, ambassadors from the G18 group of nations that has backed U.N. peace talks to end Yemen’s civil war issued a statement condemning “unconstitutional and unilateral actions in Sanaa”.
Last week, the Houthis convened the country’s parliament for the first time in two years, angering President Abd Rabu Mansour Hadi, who called it a “violation” of the country’s constitution.
“This could devastate the chances of peace talks”.
Once the mountain had been recaptured, it was easy for loyalist forces to also take control of the surrounding hills and begin sweeping the area for mines, Mr Al Haq said.
The Saudi-led coalition of Arab states intervened in March 2015 to restore power to Hadi, who was forced to flee the country after Houthi rebels and forces loyal to Saleh took over the capital and other parts of the country in September 2014.
As the rally was underway, three airstrikes targeted the presidential compound located 600 metres away from the square but did not cause casualties, residents told Reuters.
Further north, rockets launched over the border from Yemen killed one person and injured five others in the southern Saudi city of Najran, Saudi state television reported.
The central bank’s governor dismissed the reports of new board appointments as “groundless” in an emailed statement, while a spokesman from Mr Hadi’s government could not immediately be reached for comment.
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During today’s talks in Riyadh, President Hadi praised Sheikh Ahmed’s efforts aimed at implementing the United Nations resolution 2216, re-affirming his government’s keenness on realizing peace on the basis of the declared references, notably the GCC initiative and the United Nations resolutions as well as outcome of the national dialogue.
