Local Editor
A leader of Shia Houthi fighters in Yemen has criticized the Yemeni government for seeking to keep the status quo in the country that has plunged people into poverty. On Sunday, Sheikh Sayyid Abdul-Malik al-Houthi said the Yemeni people have the right to stand up for their legitimate demands.
He further noted that Yemenis from all walks of life are against the government’s “unjust policies and will not keep silent”. He slammed the situation in Yemen, saying that the failed government will fall.
Houthis have been holding demonstrations since August 20 when they strengthened their positions in the Yemeni capital Sana’a in an effort to press the government to resign. The Shia movement and its supporters are demanding the resignation of the government and the reversal of recent increases in fuel prices. In response, the government has only offered a cabinet reshuffle and minor reforms.
Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi had earlier called for a dialogue in an attempt to ease the tensions and invited the Houthi representatives to join a “unity government.” Houthis accuse the government of corruption and marginalizing the Shia community.
Yemen’s Shia Houthi movement draws its name from the tribe of its founding leader Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi. The Houthi movement played a key role in the popular revolution that forced former dictator Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down.
Saleh, who ruled Yemen for 33 years, stepped down in February 2012 under a US-backed power transfer deal in return for immunity, after a year of mass street demonstrations demanding his ouster.
Source: http://www.abna.ir/
