Yemen's interior minister in shock resignation

Abdo Hussein al-Tareb has resigned from Yemen's interior ministry, reportedly accusing the country's defence minister of treason as Houthi rebels took control of the capital.

The former interior minister is understood to have stepped down at dawn on Friday, handing control of the office to his deputy, Major General Ali Naser Lakhshaa.

A new government is expected to formed shortly.

"The state has given up its tasks and duties and have shown unjustifiable leniency toward the Houthi rebels and the armed groups affiliated with them," his resignation reportedly read. "These practices fall within the context of collusion and betrayal of the homeland."

Tareb, who held the position since April 2012, is understood to have left Sanaa for the United States as the town of Amran, north of Sanaa, fell to Houthi rebels.

His remarks have been interpreted as an attack on Mohammad Naser Ahmad, Yemen's minister of defence, who was in charge of the national army during its rapid disintegration at the hands of the Houthi dissidents.

The state has given up its tasks and duties and have shown unjustifiable leniency toward the Houthi rebels. - Abdo Hussein al-Tareb, former interior minister

Ahmad was also reportedly accused by Tareb of "weakening the security and military institutions and destroying their material and moral capabilities".

Some senior military figures are understood to believe the minister of defence has been plotting against state institutions by coordinating with the Houthis.

Tareb, well-placed sources said, had been offered the post of interior minister in the next government, but apparently declined due to the slow pace of implementing the Peace and National Partnership agreement, signed by the Houthis and government, and the failure of the rebels to demobilise.

"I do not have the desire to work under the current situation, where the Houthi group is controlling key state institutions and acting irresponsibly, weakening the stature of the state, undermining the work of its institutions and their staff, pushing society towards infighting, and kindling sectarian and regional conflicts - all of which represent a real disaster to the homeland and its citizens," Tareb concluded in his resignation letter.

Tareb called on the state to "perform its duties and establish sovereignty over its entire territories and citizens, without discrimination and without favouring one group against another or eliminating a certain party in favour of another".


This article is an edited translation from our Arabic edition.