SANAA — An aide to Yemen's President Abdrabbu Mansour Hadi said on Monday that Houthi rebels were plotting to bring down the government. The Houthis took control of Yemen's capital Sanaa on Sept. 21 and have penetrated state institutions, but Hadi remains head of state. Houthi rebel leader Abdel-Malek Al-Houthi, in a speech to tribal leaders on Monday evening at his headquarters in Sanaa, said the president was at the forefront of corruption in the country. A senior source at Hadi's office, asked for his reaction, said the speech showed the Houthis were plotting to bring down Hadi's administration and “complete their takeover of the state.” “The speech was void of the political dialogue (necessary to address) the head of state and therefore we expect that the group (Houthis) has prepared another plot similar to the one it had when it captured Sanaa,” the official, who asked not to be identified, told Reuters. Houthi said committees he had set up to oversee ministries after Sanaa's fall had uncovered attempts by unidentified officials to conduct an inventory of state assets and to “divide billions” of rials among themselves in the process. He also demanded that the 2015 state budget be subject to “close review in order to stop it being an additional massive support for the corrupt and abusers.” – Reuters
