Yemen's President, Houthis Reach Agreement
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Yemen's embattled president reached an agreement with Houthi fighters to end a violent standoff in the capital, Sanaa.
The group agreed on Wednesday to withdraw from areas overlooking the presidential palace and the private compound of the President, Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, after receiving assurances of constitutional change and power-sharing.
In a statement issued late on Wednesday, Hadi said the Houthis had a right to serve in posts in all state institutions, and a draft constitution that had been a source of disagreement between him and the group was open to amendment.
He said the Houthis agreed to withdraw fighters from areas overlooking his palace, his private home and the official residence of the prime minister, as well as a missile base, and had promised to immediately free his chief of staff, whom they had held captive since Saturday.
"The draft constitution is subject to amendments, deletions, streamlining and additions," said the statement. All sides agreed government and state institutions, schools and universities should rapidly return to work, it added.
A source close to Hadi said the president met an official from the armed group, and denied reports the head of state was under house arrest, despite two days of pitched battles outside his home.
After clashes erupted at the president's office and home on Tuesday, the Houthi leader, Abdel-Malik al-Houthi, had threatened to take further "measures" unless Hadi bowed to his demand for constitutional changes that would increase Houthi power.
