Shiite Rebels Dissolve Yemeni Parliament, Take Over Country

NPR:

Yemen’s Shiite Houthi rebels announced today they are dissolving parliament and taking over the country, cementing a seizure of power that began last September. 

A televised statement read by an unidentified Houthi member called the takeover “a new era that will take Yemen to safe shores.” He said the group was forming a 151-member presidential council that would act as a government for two years. Revolutionary Committees would be in charge of forming a new parliament, the statement said… 

Today’s developments are the culmination of weeks of instability that began Jan. 20 when the Houthis shelled President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi’s house and seized the presidential palace. Two days later, Hadi, his prime minister and Cabinet all resigned amid pressure from the rebels to, among other things, make some key appointments, which the president rejected.