Yemen's Houthi-led committee says president loses legitimacy

Yemen's Supreme Revolutionary Committee led by the Shiite Houthi group said on Tuesday that outgoing President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi has lost legitimacy and is wanted for justice, the Saba news agency reported.

"The Supreme Revolutionary Committee is monitoring the suspicious movements of the so called Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who has lost legitimacy as the president of the Republic of Yemen," the committee said in a statement carried by the official Saba news agency that is controlled by the Houthi group.

It also warned the state employees and officials not to deal with Hadi as president or executes his orders. Otherwise they will be subjected to legal accountability.

The committee said it invites all "brotherly and friendly" countries to respect the choice of the Yemeni people and their decisions.

Yemen, one of the most impoverished countries in the world, has seen power struggle since January when Hadi and Prime Minister Khaled Bahah submitted resignations in protest against the Houthi group's takeover of the capital. Then the Houthi militia put Hadi and Bahah under house arrest.

After almost one-month house arrest, Hadi announced on Monday that he was carrying on with presidential duties after he left the country's capital Sanaa and arrived in the southern port city of Aden on Saturday.

In his statement released on Saturday, Hadi condemned the Houthi takeover of capital by force, saying all decisions and appointments at military and non-military institutions which have been made since Sept. 21, 2014, are illegal and invalid, and urged to end house arrest of the prime minister and all cabinet members.

Moreover, he called on the international community to back the political process and urged Yemeni authorities to adhere only to the constitutional legitimacy.

A government official based in Aden told Xinhua on Tuesday that Hadi has officially decided to withdraw his resignation and resumed carrying on his presidential duties in Aden.

"Late on Monday night President Hadi submitted an official letter to the parliament speaker and representatives, asking to withdraw his resignation, " he said on condition of anonymity.

As the security situation worsens, more than ten countries, including the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Saudi Arabia and Egypt closed their embassies in Sanaa and evacuated the diplomatic staff.

The Houthi group on Monday rejected a proposal by UN envoy Jamal Benomar to move the UN-sponsored talks that aim to resolve the prolonged political crisis to Aden.

Yemen's political parties have resumed talks on Feb. 9 under the mediation of Benomar to resolve the crisis. Sources said the parties initially agreed on the formation of a presidential council based on the Gulf Cooperation Council deal that laid the ground for the political transition in Yemen since 2011, but dispute over the legitimacy of the parliament remains. Endit