Sanaa, Jan 26 (IANS/EFE) Uniformed members of the Houthi Shia movement Monday surrounded Yemeni capital Sanaa’s Taghyir Square to prevent demonstrations called by a youth group.
The Houthis, wearing police uniforms, were stationed at checkpoints on the streets that lead to the square which was the epicentre of the 2011 revolution that forced former president Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down.
The Revolution’s Youth Council called on all Yemenis to stage mass rallies Monday in Sanaa and other provinces to denounce the “the fascist acts of the Houthi militias”.
The protests would be held daily in order to “end the coup and release Yemen from the control of fascist Houthis”, the youth group said.
Three Yemeni parties — the Muslim Brotherhood’s al-Islah (Reform) Party, the Socialist Party, and the Nasserist Unionist People’s Organization — decided Sunday to boycott a dialogue with the Shia movement that was called for by the UN.
The Houthis have been taking over government authority and replacing the security forces in Sanaa since last September.
The Shia movement forced President Abdo Rabu Mansour and his cabinet to resign last week after gaining control over the presidential palace.
–IANS/EFE
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