(Reuters) — Yemen’s new Prime Minister Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak quit his post early on Thursday hours after the Houthi militia called for mass protests against the “foreign interference” they said was behind his appointment.
Mubarak said in a post on Facebook just 33 hours after his appointment was announced by President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi that he had turned down the post in his first meeting with presidential advisers.
He did not refer directly to the criticism of his appointment by the Houthis, who seized the capital last month, but said he was aware of the pressure Hadi was under and praised the president for his handling of the country’s political crisis.
Abdulmalik al-Houthi, the leader of the Shi’ite Muslim Houthi militia, had used a televised speech on Wednesday to call for protests and warned they would be accompanied by other, unspecified measures to force Mubarak’s departure.
