Saudi Arabia and other GCC countries reiterated their support Wednesday for Yemen’s beleaguered president against the Shiite militia that holds Sanaa, as militiamen opened fire to disperse thousands of his backers demonstrating in the capital.
Days after Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi escaped house arrest and fled to safety in the southern port of Aden, GCC Secretary-General Abdullatif Al-Zayani met him at a palace there, a presidential aide said.
Al-Zayani “stressed the support of GCC members for... the Yemeni president,” said a GCC statement.
Al-Zayani, accompanied by a delegation of Gulf ambassadors, told reporters after the meeting that GCC leaders are “very happy about Hadi’s exit from Sanaa and his arrival safely in Aden.”
He emphasized that the GCC would keep up efforts “to enhance security and stability in Yemen, and support the brotherly Yemeni people to overcome the difficult situation it endures.”
In Sanaa, thousands of demonstrators chanted “No to the Houthis... We stand by Hadi to face those who conspire against our country.”
Protest organizers said militiamen fired into the air as others attacked protesters in the main Zubairi Street, wounding five of them. The Houthis also seized 15 demonstrators and led them to an unknown destination, the organizing committee said.
In addition to Sanaa, pro-Hadi demonstrations were staged in the cities of Taez, Hudaida and Ibb, witnesses said.

Separately, more than 24 hours after a French development worker and her Yemeni colleague were kidnapped in Sanaa, it remains unclear who their captors are or what their demands might be, their employer said Wednesday.
Isabelle Prime, 30, and her colleague were abducted, reportedly by armed men dressed as police officers, on Tuesday in the heart of the Yemeni capital as they were being driven to work.

Gulf News