Houthi rebels on Wednesday changed their usual rhetoric by begging reconciliation with the supporters of slain former President Ali Abdullah Saleh to compensate for major field losses against the Yemeni legitimate army.
During a rally in Sanaa, the rebel group acknowledged that it was “greatly shocked” by Saleh’s death, calling for a comprehensive reconciliation with his supporters in an attempt to strengthen their falling ranks.
The group has officially revealed its growing concerns over the progress of the Yemeni army, backed by the Arab coalition, on various fronts.
The head of the coup council, Saleh al-Samad, ordered the release of the rest of Saleh's supporters and members of the General People’s Congress within three days. The group has already released about 3,000 detainees, who were kidnapped following the clashes that led to the liquidation of the former president with dozens of his aides and guards.
The militia chief went on to say that his group was ready to stop firing rockets into Saudi territory in return for a halt to air strikes.
Observers believe that the reconciliation discourse presented by the group to the supporters of the former president came in the wake of isolation facing the rebels following the killing of Saleh, in conjunction with the growing number of casualties in the militia’s ranks.
Meanwhile, the Yemeni government has taken effective measures to dry up the most important sources of funds obtained by the Houthis because of their control over the telecommunications and tobacco industry in Sanaa.
The legitimate government prevented the arrival of crude tobacco imports from the port of Aden to the cigarette factories that belong to Kamaran Company, forcing the Houthi-run company to address the legitimate authorities to allow it to continue its activity in return for tax payments to the government treasury in Aden.
