Yemen Shiite rebels block Sanaa airport road
9/7/2014 4:19:17 PM
Yemen's Shiite rebels and activists blocked Sunday the main road leading to Sanaa airport as they widened their protest encampment pledging more demonstrations against the government.
The Huthis, also known as Zaidis or Ansarullah, have been pushing for the government's resignation, accusing it of corruption.
They have rejected overtures from President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi to name a new prime minister and reduce a disputed fuel price hike.
On Sunday, they pitched new tents blocking access to the ministries of electricity and telecommunications, located on Airport Road, where they have been demonstrating for weeks.
They also blocked access from the capital's main road to the international airport.
Authorities deployed anti-riot police around the nearby interior ministry, an AFP correspondent said.
The protesters erected cement roadblocks along the road to the airport and wore yellow bands on their wrists and across their foreheads as a "warning" sign to authorities.
A source close to the presidency told AFP the Huthis have submitted a list of demands, including "uprooting corruption" as well as "giving them more powers within the public prosecution, accountability panel, national security services and the intelligence."
They also demanded the president to "consult with them on naming the new prime minister" and the ministers of defense, interior, foreign and finance.
According to the presidential initiative, Hadi himself should name the four ministers.
The protest on Sunday featured portraits of Syria's embattled President Bashar al-Assad and the head of Lebanon's Iran-backed Shiite Hezbollah movement Hassan Nasrallah, alongside those of Yemeni rebel chief Abdulmalik al-Huthi.
Authorities in Sunni-majority Yemen accuse Shiite-dominated Iran of backing the rebels and Hadi urged Tehran on Saturday to be "reasonable" in dealing with his country.
Banners at the Huthi sit-in Sunday vowed that the protests will "continue until the fall of the Muslim Brotherhood government."
Tribesmen linked to Yemen's Sunni Al-Islah (reform) party have been fighting the rebels alongside government troops since last year.
The rebels accuse the consensus government headed by Prime Minister Mohamed Basindawa of close ties to Al-Islah.
The Huthis, also known as Zaidis or Ansarullah, have been pushing for the government's resignation, accusing it of corruption.
They have rejected overtures from President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi to name a new prime minister and reduce a disputed fuel price hike.
On Sunday, they pitched new tents blocking access to the ministries of electricity and telecommunications, located on Airport Road, where they have been demonstrating for weeks.
They also blocked access from the capital's main road to the international airport.
Authorities deployed anti-riot police around the nearby interior ministry, an AFP correspondent said.
The protesters erected cement roadblocks along the road to the airport and wore yellow bands on their wrists and across their foreheads as a "warning" sign to authorities.
A source close to the presidency told AFP the Huthis have submitted a list of demands, including "uprooting corruption" as well as "giving them more powers within the public prosecution, accountability panel, national security services and the intelligence."
They also demanded the president to "consult with them on naming the new prime minister" and the ministers of defense, interior, foreign and finance.
According to the presidential initiative, Hadi himself should name the four ministers.
The protest on Sunday featured portraits of Syria's embattled President Bashar al-Assad and the head of Lebanon's Iran-backed Shiite Hezbollah movement Hassan Nasrallah, alongside those of Yemeni rebel chief Abdulmalik al-Huthi.
Authorities in Sunni-majority Yemen accuse Shiite-dominated Iran of backing the rebels and Hadi urged Tehran on Saturday to be "reasonable" in dealing with his country.
Banners at the Huthi sit-in Sunday vowed that the protests will "continue until the fall of the Muslim Brotherhood government."
Tribesmen linked to Yemen's Sunni Al-Islah (reform) party have been fighting the rebels alongside government troops since last year.
The rebels accuse the consensus government headed by Prime Minister Mohamed Basindawa of close ties to Al-Islah.