Yemen president's chief of staff freed by Shiite Houthi group

The kidnapped Yemeni president's chief of staff was released on Tuesday, an official with the information ministry told Xinhua.

Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak, kidnapped by the Houthi group in a wrangle over the draft constitution, handed him to a tribe of the southern Shabwa province, the official said on condition of anonymity.

Bin Mubarak was intercepted by Houthi gunmen near his house while he was about to handed the draft constitution to the secretariat of the National Dialogue Monitoring Committee on Jan. 17, which later triggered clashes in Sanaa between presidential guards and Houthi fighters.

Tribes in Shabwa province, hometown to Bin Mubarak, shut down some oil companies and government facilities to force the Houthi group to release him.

On Thursday, Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and Prime Minister Khaled Bahah submitted resignations, one day after the government signed a peace deal with the Houthi group.

The parliament said it will hold an emergency session to vote on Hadi's resignation, but has postponed the meeting until further notice.

Government officials said domestic and international efforts are underway to convince Hadi to withdraw his resignation. However, the Houthi group insisted on forming a presidential council to run the country after the president and premier resigned.

Following their resignation, the impoverished Arab country went into complete security vacuum that may benefits terrorist groups in expanding their activities.

The Shiite Houthi group, based in the far northern province of Saada, has been expanding influence southward after signing a UN-sponsored peace and power-sharing deal on Sept. 21, 2014 after they overran the capital by force. Enditem