GCC accuses Houthi rebels of a 'coup' in Yemen

The GCC - the bloc of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates - has urged the Houthis to pull out of Sanaa, which the militia overran in September.

The Sunni monarchies said their own security was linked to that of Yemen and vowed in a statement to take "all necessary measures to defend their interests", without elaborating.

The GCC also called on the UN Security Council to intervene and put an end to "the coup which has placed Yemen and its people in a dark tunnel".

"The Houthi coup marks a grave and unacceptable escalation... and endangers the security, stability, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Yemen," the six-nation council said in a statement from its Riyadh headquarters.

Tensions have been running high in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, with heavily armed Houthi rebels surrounding around state institutions.

The Houthis dissolved parliament on Friday and set up a five-member presidential council to form a transitional government, which they say will rule the country for two years.

Government decisions will now be dictated by a revolutionary comittee dominated by the rebels.

The Houthi coup marks a grave and unacceptable escalation. - GCC statement

The move was announced in a "constitutional declaration" aiming to fill a power vacuum after President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi and Prime Minister Khalid Bahah resigned last month.

They tendered their resignations after the Houthis, who swept down from their mountainous northern stronghold to overrun Sanaa, last month seized the presidential palace and key government buildings.

They also abducted a key Hadi aide in protest at a draft constitution that would divide impoverished Yemen into six federal regions and which they said further marginalised their Zaydi Shia community.

The Houthi declaration of taking power came after a deadline they set for political parties to resolve the crisis expired, and UN-brokered peace talks failed.

Attack

A rudimentary bomb exploded outside the republican palace in downtown Sanaa on Saturday, wounding three militiamen. The palace was home to the now-resigned prime minister, but now houses Mohammad al Houthi, a prominent leader of the armed wing of the Houthi movement.

Thousands of protesters in three cities in central Yemen marched against the Houthis' power play. Abdel Aziz bin Habtur, the governor of Aden, Yemen's second largest city, called the announcement "a plot against the constitution".

In the capital, Houthi gunmen dispersed dozens of activists by shooting above the crowd.

Saudi Arabia and the other GCC states have been concerned by the advances made by the Houthis - who they see as aligned to their regional rival, Iran.

Saudi Arabia has previously enjoyed considerable influence over the government in Sanaa and feels threatened by what is - rightly or wrongly - widely perceived in the region as an Iranian takeover of the country.

The Iranians and the Houthis have both denied that either funding or arms are coming from Tehran.

Washington has also raised alarm at what it fears could amount to an anti-American movement taking hold of core centres of power in Yemen.

Cooperation with the Yemeni security and intelligence services is central to the US campaign against Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsular (AQAP).

The UN Security Council has also threatened further steps against the Houthis if they do not return to talks.