Yemen’s FM describes insurgents coalition as illegal marriage

Former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh on Wednesday described infighting and widening rift among coup ranks in Sana’a an act of “sedition.”, as Yemen’s foreign minister described the differences between former President and Houthi militias as natural outcome
Saleh, leading a party of armed loyalists partaking in a nation-wide insurgency, demanded that investigations be conducted over the killing of Officer Khaled Rida in clashes with Houthi militias last week.
Iran-allied Houthis are leading the coup against the internationally-backed government which relocated to the temporary capital, Aden.
In his first appearance after the skirmishes, Saleh said in a brief speech when he attended Radi’s funeral in Sana’a on Wednesday that he holds the self-declared political council and government of the coup responsible for the incident, reported the Popular Congress Party on its official website.
“Saleh’s speech was a covert reconciliation outreach to Houthi militias by urging the presidential council to intervene and contain the crisis that emerged after Radi’s death,” Bahraini political analyst Abdullah al-Junaid told Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper.
At the same time, Saleh relayed Houthis another message by sending a shout out for vengeance, showing that a great tribal extension stands in favor of his party, Junaid added.
Sana’a now witnesses the calm before the storm, with the prospect of armed confrontations between Saleh loyalists and Houthis increasing—such an outbreak could lead to a series of kidnapping and assassinations taking place as the two major coup factions attempt to excommunicate each other.  
A security expert said Houthis were seeking to take over southern Sana’a gates in a power grab against the insurgency-held capital, thereon removing Saleh supporters from power.
On differences emerging between coup parties in Yemen, security and political expert Muhammad al-Walas said that Houthis “are now controlling Sana’a and have laid siege to some 70 percent of its territory, while restricting control of pro-Saleh fighters to the southern gates only.”
On the other hand, Yemeni Foreign Minister Abdul-Malek al-Mekhlafi has said that the latest clashes between militias of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh and head of Ansar Allah group Abdul Malik al-Houthi in Sana’a “are a natural outcome of an illegal marriage or a so-called passion of the snakes.”
In comments reported by the German news agency, al-Mekhlafi said that Houthis are an armed sectarian militia backed by Iran while Saleh wanted to use those militants to harvest alone the profits of the coup.
“But, what he sought after was a disappointment,” he said.
Last week, a war of words between the two previous allies exploded into a military confrontation when militants believed to be linked to Saleh’s Republican Guards fired at a Houthi military position in the Joulat al-Misbaha where the two groups exchanged fire in the presence of a high security deployment. Reports said the clashes erupted after Houthi fighters tried to set up a security checkpoint near the home of Saleh in Sana’a.
Commenting on the latest clashes, the Yemeni foreign minister said the current lull was nothing but “calm before the storm.”
He said: “We never aimed to reach deals with Saleh, and I don’t believe that any Arab state had made any effort in this regard … There is no need to start a deal with Saleh, who will not have any place in the future of Yemen.”
Al-Mekhalfi also said Saleh’s “illusions” to remain in power have driven the country into a catastrophe.
He said those illusions were currently pushing the man to clash with Houthis and to present himself as a partner in any future peace deal.
The minister pointed to the possibility that Saleh’s General People’s Congress (GPC) party could actually constitute the “suitable partner for us,” adding that “several party figures are now fed up with the current violations and crimes.”