SANA, Yemen — Yemen’s Shiite rebels faced mounting pressures and signs of internal divisions Friday after the U.S.-backed president and his Cabinet resigned rather than submit at gunpoint to their increasing demands for greater power.
With thousands of demonstrators on both sides taking to the streets across the impoverished Arab country, the rebels appeared wary of the dangers of overstepping in Yemen’s minefield of tribal politics, sectarian divisions, al-Qaeda militancy and a secessionist movement.
Rebel gunmen manned checkpoints throughout the capital and besieged the houses of government ministers, but they made no public attempt to fill the vacuum created by the resignations of President Abed Rabbo Hadi, his prime minister and Cabinet.
There were signs that the national parliament would reject the resignations when it meets Sunday.
It seemed as if the rebels, known as the Houthis, do not want to rule the country outright and would prefer that Hadi remain as a figurehead president.
Also Friday, U.S. officials said that the Obama administration has been forced to suspend counterterrorism operations with Yemen in the aftermath of the collapse. The move eases pressure on al-Qaeda’s most dangerous franchise.
Armed drones operated by the CIA and the U.S. Joint Special Operations Command remain deployed over southern Yemen, where al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsulais based. But U.S. officials said that the Yemeni security services that provided much of the intelligence that sustained that U.S. air campaign are now controlled by the Houthis.
In his latest speech, rebel leader Abdel-Malek al-Houthi vowed to keep up the pressure until the government meets all his demands, including greater representation in government ministries and in a committee to rewrite the country’s constitution.
Even before the Houthis’ recent ascendance, a powerful movement in southern Yemen was demanding autonomy or a return to the full independence the region enjoyed from 1967 to 1990. Southerners reject rule by the Houthis.
On Friday, thousands of demonstrators in the southern city of Aden raised the former flag of Southern Yemen over the local airport and security headquarters building, witnesses said.
But tens of thousands also turned out in the capital, Sana, in support of the Houthis. They raised green flags and banners proclaiming their slogan — “Death to America, death to Israel, a curse on the Jews and victory to Islam.”
The Washington Post contributed to this report.
