Saleh's party rejects Houthi rebels new appointments amid escalating rift
The party of Yemen's former President Ali Abdullah Saleh on Sunday rejected a set of appointments made unilaterally by dominant Shiite Houthi rebels that ousted Saleh's loyalists amid rising rift over controlling the country, according to Xinhua.
The rejection came in a statement carried by almotamar.net, the mouthpiece of Saleh's party, the General People's Congress (GPC).
"The new appointments and other recent decisions were taken and issued unilaterally by Houthi group without consensus," the GPC said in the statement.
"The unilateral decisions violate the partnership agreement between the GPC and Houthi group and are legally non-binding," said the GPC.
On Saturday, the Houthi rebels appointed new military commanders in the army and new chiefs and general managers in the Supreme Judicial Council and the Ministry of Finance, and ousted commanders and officials loyal to toppled former president Saleh.
The action came amid highly growing strife between allies as Houthis seek to strip Saleh from resources of legal power and unilaterally take full control of the country's army, finance, judiciary.
Saleh and Houthis, once partners in the coup against internationally recognized President Abdu-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, have recently fallen out with each other.
The Republican Guards in support of Saleh stepped up measures to be ready to confront any developments in Sanaa.
Saleh directed the Republican Guards to protect both camps and strictly deal with any Houthi attempt to raid them or come near them.
Yemen has been entangled in civil war when Houthi and Saleh supporters attempted a coup against the internationally recognized Yemeni government of Hadi.
Almost two years and a half ago, Saudi Arabia led an Arab coalition forces to back Hadi and resistance forces.
Over 10,000 people, mostly civilians have been killed in the war that displaced 3 million others, according to UN aid agencies.