Talks with rebels fail, Sanaa braces for rival protests

A presidential negotiating team Sunday abandoned talks with Shiite rebels, accusing them of seeking to ignite a war, as the tension-filled Yemeni capital braced for rival protests.
President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi meanwhile urged "vigilance and increased preparation to face any options that could be imposed" on Yemen, at a meeting with the supreme security and military committee, state news agency Saba reported.
Hadi's envoys had held talks with rebel commander Abdulmalik al-Huthi since Thursday in a bid to persuade him to abandon protests organised by his supporters to demand the ouster of the government and reversal of fuel price increases.
But the presidential team's spokesman, Abdulmalek al-Mikhlafi, said the negotiations in Saada, the rebels' stronghold in the mountains of the far north, had failed.
The rebels "rejected all the proposals presented to them," said Mikhlafi.
"It seems like the Huthis have intentions for a war," he added, referring to the Zaidi Shiite rebels who have been fighting government troops in the northern mountains on and off since 2004.
Mikhlafi told reporters on Saturday that his team had handed Huthi a draft proposal to form a technocrat government within a one-month period from the date of signing the accord.
The proposal also called for the formation of an economic committee, among other points.
Huthi spokesman Mohammed Abdulsalam, however, pinned the blame on authorities, saying the presidential team "had no powers" to guarantee his group's demands.
Apart from revoking the fuel price hikes and the government's resignation, the demands include "a partnership in all the state structures", he said.
- Rival Sanaa rallies -
The political impasse sparked a mobilisation on the streets as supporters of both sides called for huge rallies later on Sunday.
Thousands began pouring into the capital -- Huthis in northern Sanaa and government supporters in the centre.
Tens of thousands of armed rebels have set up fortified protest camps around the capital over the past week to press their demands.
One encampment is located in Sanaa's northern district on a road leading to the airport and where the interior and other ministries are located.
Authorities, meanwhile, have stepped up security around vital installations and government buildings including the airport and the interior ministry, just 100 metres (yards) from the Huthi camp.
"We are living in constant fear of the situation deteriorating and of a scenario similar to what happened in Amran," activist Amal al-Yafie told AFP.
She was referring to the northern city which the Shiite rebels seized after deadly battles in July, before they later agreed to withdraw.
Hadi's meeting with the top security committee was held to "discuss the security situation in Sanaa and Amran in light of the latest developments and security challenges imposed by the armed Huthi group," Saba reported.
The president accused the Huthis of "suspicious agendas" and of "toying with the feelings" of Yemenis, according to Saba.
Analysts said the rebels are seeking to establish themselves as the dominant force in Yemen's northern highlands and to secure a larger share of power in a future federal government.
April Longley Alley, a Yemen specialist with the International Crisis Group said that the protests were complicating the negotiations.
"There is still room to find a negotiated settlement, but escalating the protests will likely make finding one more difficult," Alley told AFP.
The Zaidi Shiites, a minority in mainly Sunni Yemen, form the majority in the northern highlands, including the Saada region.
Their protest action has raised fears of new violence in Yemen, which already faces an Al-Qaeda insurgency and a campaign for renewed independence for the south.
The impoverished country has been locked in a protracted transition since long-time strongman Ali Abdullah Saleh was forced from power in February 2012 after a deadly 11-month uprising.
Plans for a six-region federation have been rejected by both the Huthis and the southern separatists.
Source: AFP