Yemen president at 'secure location' as Houthis advance

Yemen's president has been taken to a "secure location" in Aden, a top aide is reported to have said, as rebel Houthi forces moved closer to the city and his temporary presidential complex was targeted by an airstrike.

The aide told the AFP news agency on Wednesday that Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi had been taken to an undisclosed location in the southern port city as rebels moved within a few dozen miles.

The statement came hours after a jet fired three missiles at the temporary presidential complex. The president is believed to have left before the attack took place.

A Yemeni government source earlier denied to al-Araby al-Jadeed numerous reports suggesting Hadi had fled the country. The source described the reports as "lies" and "part of a psychological war" being fought by the Houthi movement.

Houthi movement presses south

The Houthi movement said on its television channel that it had taken control of al-Annad airbase, the largest in the country and 35 miles from Aden, and that its fighters would be in Aden "within hours".

The US and the UK recently withdrew soldiers stationed at the base after al-Qaeda briefly seized a nearby city. Annad was used for US drone operations in Yemen.

The Houthis also said they had captured Hadi's defence minister as they took over the town of al-Houta, considered the northern gateway to Aden.

"Mahmud al-Subaihi was arrested in the city of Houta," rebel spokesman Mohammed Abdulsalam said in a statement broadcast by the militia's al-Massira television.

Subaihi had escaped house arrest in Sanaa earlier this month, joining the president in Aden to take charge of the defence of areas still under the government's control.

Abdulsalam said Subaihi and others arrested were "transferred to Sanaa and are held by the armed forces".

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Arab League to discuss Yemen

The Arab League will discuss the Yemen crisis on Thursday, the regional body's deputy secretary general said.

Arab heads of state will meet in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on 28-29 March to discuss a range of conflicts in the region, including Yemen and Libya, as well as the threat posed by the Islamic State group.

Hadi earlier this week asked the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council and the Arab League for immediate help.

Saudi Arabia warned that "if the Houthi coup does not end peacefully, we will take the necessary measures for this crisis to protect the region".

On Tuesday, Hadi asked the UN Security Council to authorise a military intervention "to protect Yemen and to deter the Houthi aggression expected to occur at any hour from now" against Aden and the rest of the south.