Houthis 'Abduct' Brotherhood Party Official İn Sanaa

Houthi militants have reportedly abducted a leading member of the Muslim Brotherhood's political party from capital Sanaa.



"The Houthi militants besieged a party's office headquarter in Sanaa and abducted Habib al-Oreiqi," a source from the Brotherhood's Islah Party told The Anadolu Agency.



Members of the powerful Shiite Houthi group could not immediately be reached for comment.



Since it seized Sanaa last September, the Shiite group has taken hold of several offices of the party in Sanaa and reportedly staged attacks on some of its offices in other parts of Yemen.



Houthi leader Abdel-Malek al-Houthi has also recently accused the party of colluding with Al-Qaeda inside Yemen.



Tension has mounted in Yemen since the powerful Shiite Houthi group seized control of Sanaa in September of 2014. The group has sought to extend its control in other Yemeni provinces ever since.



On Feb. 6, the Houthis issued what it described as a constitutional declaration dissolving Yemen's parliament and establishing a 551-member transitional council.



The declaration was, however, rejected by most of Yemen's political forces – along with some neighboring Gulf countries – which described it as a coup against constitutional legitimacy.



Some Gulf States have accused Iran of backing a Shiite insurgency in the fractious nation.



www.aa.com.tr/en - Sana