Yemen's Shiite rebels pressed ahead Wednesday with their power grab in the capital, Sanaa, capturing a military base that houses ballistic missiles overlooking the city and posting guards outside the president's home only a day after they shelled the residence. The developments further erode the powers of U.S.-backed President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, who was unharmed during the shelling Tuesday but remained inside the house. The embattled Hadi appears to have run out of options amid what some have described as a coup by the Houthis. Early Wednesday, the Houthis seized the country's largest missile base on a hilltop above Sanaa, consolidating their grip over the city, which they seized in September after spreading out from their strongholds in the north. Meanwhile, a lull settled over Sanaa after two days of fierce gun-battles between government forces and the Houthis during which the rebels swept into the presidential palace and looted its weapons depots, took over the TV building and the country's official news agency, and besieged the house of Prime Minister Khaled Bahah. The rebels' leader, Abdel-Malek al-Houthi, described the dramatic escalation in an address to the nation broadcast late Tuesday as a "revolutionary" move aimed at forcing Hadi to implement a U.N.-brokered deal that effectively grants the Houthis a bigger share of power. Yemeni military officials said there was no resistance as the Houthis took the base housing ballistic missiles in western Sanaa. The rebels demanded that the commanders hand over control of the base to them, said the officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to media. In his speech, al-Houthi listed as his main demand the shakeup of a commission tasked with writing a review of a new, draft constitution to ensure bigger representation for his group. The draft has proposed a federation of six regions, something the Houthis reject. The Houthis are a group within the Shiite sect of Zaydism, whose followers make up a third of Yemen's population of 25 million and live mainly in the north. The rebels are believed to have the backing of Shiite powerhouse Iran, a claim they reject. Sunni Yemenis live mostly in the country's south and make up two thirds of the population. The chaos in Sanaa prompted the U.N. Security Council to hold an emergency meeting Tuesday to condemn the violence and call for a lasting cease-fire. In a statement approved by all 15 members, the Council asserted that Hadi "is the legitimate authority" in Yemen. However, deep uncertainty loomed over the city and Hadi's future. Outside his house, security guards that previously manned a post made up of sandbags and metal barricades had disappeared and were replaced by Houthis, armed with Kalashnikov rifles, standing at the gates. Other rebels stood outside shuttered shops or monitored traffic. Analysts say the Houthi sweep could further fracture Yemen, and incite other disenchanted and rival groupings across the Sunni-Shiite divide. Also Wednesday, authorities in Aden, the regional capital of southern Yemen, closed the airport there, the country's second-largest, in protest to what their local authorities described as Houthi "coup" against "national sovereignty." Airport chief in the port city of Aden, Tarek Abdu, said the shutdown went into effect at 7 a.m. Wednesday and would last "until further notice," following orders from the governor. Local authorities also closed the port, a major hub in the Gulf of Aden.
