Houthi leader vows to defend 'glorious revolution'

Abdel Malik al-Houthi says decision to dissolve parliament was a "responsible act" taken in the country's best interest.

 

The leader of Yemen's Houthi fighters has defended the group's overthrowing of the government, calling it a "glorious revolution" that has "broken the shackles of injustice and corruption".
In his first public address since Friday's coup, Abdel-Malik al-Houthi said the decision to install a new government and dissolve parliament was a "responsible act" taken in the "best interests of the country".
"The Yemeni people have taken a giant step forward in their march towards freedom dignity and independence," Houthi said.
Houthi blamed the former president, Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, for stepping down, and said he would confront all attempts at inciting sedition.

"Some political forces and collaborators, within and outside Yemen, have failed to understand that the Yemeni people are adamant they will achieve their legimiate, lawful, just demands to establish a dignified way of life," Houthi added.
Houthi's speech came as thousands of people rallied across the country, calling the takeover a "coup".
Demonstrations erupted in the capital Sanaa, as well as the cities of Aden, Hodeida, Taiz, Dhamar, Ibb and al-Bayda.

Sources told Al Jazeera that at least 17 people were arrested at the Sanaa rally, after the Houthis reportedly fired live ammunition to disperse crowds.
Abdel Aziz bin Habtur, the governor of Aden, called the Houthi declaration "a plot against the constitution," while in Taiz, Yemen's third-largest city, protesters pitched tents outside a local government building.


The Houthis, who have controlled the capital since September last year, said on Friday they would set up a 551-member national council to replace the dissolved parliament.
The Shia movement said a five-member presidential council would form a transitional government to run the country for the next two years.
Al Jazeera's Jamal Elshayyal, reporting from Aden, said the announcement threatened to split an already divided country and would have ramifications throughout the region.
"Popularly speaking, the Houthis are a Shia minority, and there is a lot of opposition to them from the Sunni majority," he said.
"Politically speaking, you have regions like Aden that have said they reject the Houthi takeover and will not accept orders from Sanaa.
"Some have called for like-minded governorates to come together and discuss the situation.
"This is an opportunity for them to advance their cause and increase calls for separation."
Yemen's south accounts for about 70 percent of the country's production and groups in the region have been demanding a return to the full independence the south enjoyed from 1967 to 1990.


The Houthi takeover has drawn a strong rebuke from Washington, the UN and neighbouring Gulf states.
On Saturday, the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council said the Houthi "coup" endangered the "territorial integrity of Yemen".
"The Houthi coup marks a grave and inacceptable escalation ... and endangers the security, stability, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Yemen," it said in a statement.
The fall of Hadi's Western-backed government raises fears of chaos engulfing Yemen, strategically located next to oil giant Saudi Arabia and on the key shipping route from the Suez Canal to the Gulf.