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Sanaa clashes halted as Yemen president meets Houthis: spokesman

Xinhua, January 19, 2015 Adjust font size:

Clashes between Yemeni presidential guards and Shiite Houthi fighters near the presidential palace in the capital Sanaa stopped on Monday after President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi started a meeting with Houthi representatives, a government spokesman said.

"President Hadi started an extraordinary meeting with his advisors and Houthi representatives, urging all sides to calm down for the sake of Yemen," Rajeh Badi, the spokesman, told Xinhua.

The Houthis, who demand more rights for the country's Zyadi Shiite Muslims, seized Sanaa in September and advanced into central and western parts of the country where Sunni Muslims predominate.

Fresh clashes erupted in Sanaa after the director of the Yemeni presidential office, Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak, was kidnapped by the Houthis two days ago, in a wrangle over the country's draft constitution.

An official at Hadi's office told Xinhua that Hadi asked the Houthi group during the meeting to release bin Mubarak.

Earlier, the Houthi group said in a statement that the arrest of bin Mubarak was a necessary step to prevent influential parties from approving the draft constitution.

According to the draft constitution, Yemen will be divided into six federal regions. However, the Houthi group demands that the country be divided into only two regions. Endit