Sana’a: A Yemeni presidential delegation has handed the Al Houthi rebels a draft proposal on forming a technocrat government, an official spokesman said on Saturday, amid tensions around a rebel encampment in Sana’a.
The presidential delegation has been holding talks with rebel commander Abdul Malek Al Houthi in his northern Saada stronghold since Thursday to convince his group to join a new government.
Al Houthi supporters, meanwhile, have been staging protests against a steep hike in fuel prices and demanding the incumbent national unity government step down.
The government, headed by Prime Minister Mohammad Basindwa, was formed in December 2011 under a transition agreement that paved the way for ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh’s ouster.
“There is a draft agreement and we are waiting for the Al Houthis to sign and start implementing it in the next hours,” presidential team spokesman Abdul Malek Al Mikhlafi told reporters in Saada.
He said the main points in the accord were to form “a technocrat government within a one-month period from the date of signing the draft document and an economic committee to review the country’s economic situation”.
But tension prevailed in the capital as thousands of Al Houthi supporters joined an encampment erected on Friday by Zaidi rebels on a road in northern Sana’a leading to the airport and where the interior, communication and electricity ministries are located.
Al Houthi activist Khalid Al Madani, a leading organiser of the Sana’a sit-in, told AFP: “We are not concerned by the presidential delegation or by any agreements.
“What we care about is achieving the demands we took to the streets for: overthrowing the government and revoking of the decision” to raise fuel prices.
However, Madani reaffirmed earlier Al Houthi pledges that their protests will remain “peaceful”.
Late on Friday, authorities stepped up security around the interior ministry, just 100 metres from the Al Houthi encampment.
Armoured vehicles were deployed and new checkpoints set up around the compound.
Thousands of armed rebels, also known as Ansar allah or Al Houthis, have strengthened their positions around Sana’a over the past week as they press their campaign.
