Sanaa- The Yemeni government has reached a tentative agreement with Houthi rebels aimed at defusing the country's political crisis, according to a Yemeni official with access to a draft text of the peace deal.
The stability of the U.S. ally has been in question since Tuesday, when Houthi rebels took over the presidential palace. Some government officials called it a coup, though rebels said they had not asked President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi to step down.
Under the terms of the agreement, a draft of a new constitution is reopened to changes that will grant the Houthis more political power. In exchange, the Houthis agree to release the President's chief of staff and withdraw their militias from key government institutions.
Throughout the ordeal, Hadi has considered himself to be in power.
Houthi rebels, Shiite Muslims who have long felt marginalized in the majority Sunni country, took over the presidential palace in Sanaa on Tuesday, marking what one government minister called "the completion of a coup." There were also reports of clashes near the President's residence.
Separately, Yemeni Prime Minister Khaled Bahah was confined to his official residence at the Republican Palace by Houthis who surrounded the building. On Wednesday, Bahah was allowed to leave his official residence and moved to an unidentified private residence, according to a spokesman for the Yemeni Embassy in Washington.
The chaos in Yemen is of deep concern to the United States and its allies because Yemen's government has been a key ally in the fight against al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the Yemen-based group linked to attacks like the recent slaughter at French magazine Charlie Hebdo. In return for government concessions, the rebels will withdraw their fighters from the capital.
Courtesy: CNN