Interview causes rift between Houthis and ousted Yemeni president

A TV interview which included criticism of the Houthis has caused a rift between the group and their ally, ousted Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, Erem news website reported on Friday.

The UAE-based outlet said that the media office of Abdul Malik Al-Houthi, the leader of the Houthi militias in Yemen, contacted Saleh and asked him not to broadcast the interview on his own TV channel, Yemen Today.

Yemeni journalist Nabil Al-Soufi, who works at the channel and is Saleh’s media advisor, interviewed lawyer Nazih Al-Emad, who criticised Saleh and the Houthis and said that both took Yemen into conflict. Al-Soufi posted excerpts from the interview on his Facebook page. This angered the Houthis, who contacted Saleh and asked him not to broadcast it.

According to Erem, Saleh pledged not to broadcast the interview or any other material that criticises the Houthis on his own TV station. The website also claimed that Saleh has smuggled his family to another country due to his increasing fears that the Houthis are planning to get rid of him.

The former president survived an assassination attempt in November last year orchestrated by the Houthis, claimed Erem. This, it added, pushed him to move his family.

The Houthis, it is alleged, uncovered a Saleh-inspired coup plot against them, which prompted them to try to get rid of him.