Yemen armed forces on alert as rebel deadline nears

SANAA — President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi urged Yemen's armed forces Thursday to "raise their level of vigilance" on the eve of the expiry of a rebel deadline for the government to quit.

However, Hadi also sent a delegation to Shiite Zaidi rebel commander Abdulmalik Al Houthi in his Saada stronghold north of Sanaa to invite his group to talk and urge them to join a national unity government.

The rebel commander warned on Sunday that the authorities must address protesters' grievances by the end of the week or face "legitimate action".

Thousands of armed Shiite rebels, also known as Ansarullah or Houthis, strengthened their positions in Sanaa on Wednesday as they pressed their campaign to force the government, which they accuse of corruption, to step down.

The protesters also want a steep increase in petrol prices to be revoked.

Fearing increased tensions during the weekly Friday prayers, Hadi urged the armed forces to "raise their level of vigilance" and "be prepared to deal with any development".

He made the call at a meeting of the Supreme Security Committee and the National Defence Council, the official Saba news agency said.

Rebels roamed Sanaa Thursday in vehicles urging residents via loudspeakers to join their demonstrations, witnesses said.

One political source told AFP Sanaa is "living on the verge of a social explosion".

However, the source, speaking on condition of anonymity, did not rule out a last-minute settlement with the rebel commander in Saada.

The capital was gripped by fear and "residents are storing food supplies as others get weapons", a young student in Sanaa told AFP.

The Zaidi rebels strongly oppose the government's plans for a six-region federation, demanding a single region for the northern highlands and a greater share of power in the federal government.

They control Saada province in the far north and parts of several neighbouring provinces.

Rebels reached the outskirts of Sanaa in July after seizing Amran to its north, although they later agreed to withdraw.

The rebels have been fighting an on-off conflict with government troops in the northern mountains for the past decade, but analysts warned their bid for more power in a promised new federal Yemen was potentially explosive.

The Zaidi Shiites are a minority in mainly Sunni Yemen but the majority in the northern highlands, including the Sanaa region.