Yemen's Houthis Slam Arab League İnvitation To Hadi

The Shiite Houthi movement on Tuesday accused the Cairo-based Arab League of meddling in Yemen's internal affairs by inviting embattled President ABD Rabbuh Mansour Hadi to attend an Arab Summit later this month.



Yemen's pro-Houthi High Revolutionary Committee said in a statement that it was "closely following the Arab League's invitation to resigned President Hadi and resigned Foreign Minister Abdullah al-Sayadi to attend the Arab Summit."  



The committee went on to express its "surprise that the Arab League would adopt such a position," describing the move as "interference in the internal affairs of the Yemeni people, which is incompatible with the goals of the [2011] popular revolution."



"This move will only raise more tension and discord in Yemen," the committee said, calling on the Arab League to "reconsider its position so as to meet the aspirations and hopes of the Yemeni people and their revolution."



In Monday statements to Asharq al-Awsat newspaper, League Secretary-General Nabil al-Arabi said the league had invited Hadi and his foreign minister to participate in the upcoming summit.



Yemen has remained in a state of chaos since last September, when the Shiite Houthi militant group took over capital Sanaa, from which it has since sought to extend its control to other parts of the country as well.



On Feb. 21, President ABD Rabbuh Mansour Hadi fled Sanaa – where he had been placed under house arrest by the Houthis for weeks – to the southern city of Aden.



Upon his arrival in Aden, Hadi dismissed as "null" and "illegitimate" all recently-issued Houthi decrees. He also wrote to Yemen's parliament, withdrawing a resignation he had tendered earlier.



Earlier, the Houthis issued a "constitutional declaration," dissolving parliament and establishing a 551-member transitional council.



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



www.aa.com.tr/en - Sana