The Qatari regime had been attempting since Friday to mediate a rapprochement between the Houthi militias and former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s forces, an informed source told Asharq Al-Awsat on Saturday.
Saleh has however rejected the mediation and Doha therefore failed in seizing control of the situation in Yemen and reaching any form of calm or agreement.
The source said that clashes had renewed on Saturday between the Houthis and Saleh’s supporters in the Yemeni capital Sana’a.
Saleh’s supporters managed on Saturday to seize control of several embassies and government buildings from the Houthis.
The Houthis retaliated to the Saleh advance by deploying four tanks on the streets of Sana’a in order to intimidate and terrorize the people and dissuade them from backing the former president.
In addition, the source told Asharq Al-Awsat that the police in Sana’a refused Houthi leadership orders to attack Saleh supporters in the al-Seyasy neighborhoods.
This is the beginning of a rebellion against the Houthi militias in Sana’a, it added.
Tribal forces have meanwhile mobilized to support Saleh.
Three Houthi leaders have so far been killed in the clashes that began on Friday, revealed the source, while noting that there have been more casualties among the militia ranks than among Saleh’s forces.
