Huthi militia installs 'presidential council' to run Yemen

Shiite militia who have seized Yemen?s capital announced Feb. 6 they had dissolved parliament and installed a "presidential council" to run the country in the face of a power vacuum.
 
The Huthi militia said it would set up a national council of 551 members to replace the legislature in the violence-wracked country, a key US ally in the fight against Al-Qaeda.
 
The heavily armed Huthis swept into Sanaa from their northern stronghold in September, seeking greater influence in running the country.
 
Last month they seized the presidential palace and key government buildings and encircled the houses of senior officials in what authorities called a coup attempt.
 
That plunged the country deeper into crisis and prompted President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi and Prime Minister Khalid Bahah to tender their resignations.
 
The five-member presidential council will form a transitional government to govern for two years, the Huthis announced in a "constitutional declaration" attended by tribal and military representatives as well as by the outgoing interior and defence ministers.
 
The declaration came after a Wednesday deadline set by the militia for political parties to resolve the crisis passed with no agreement.
 
After another round of talks late Thursday attended by UN envoy Jamal Benomar, participants had said negotiations would resume on Saturday.
 
On Feb. 6, Benomar flew out of the country before the declaration was announced.
  
Yemen has been riven by instability since the Arab Spring-inspired uprising that forced autocratic president Ali Abdullah Saleh from power in 2012.
 
Saleh has been accused of backing the Huthis -- who are from the same Zaidi sect of Shiite Islam...