Agencies, Sanaa :Yemen’s embattled president has reached an agreement with Houthi rebels to end a violent standoff in the capital, Sanaa.The Shia rebels agreed on Wednesday to withdraw from areas overlooking the presidential palace and the private compound of the President, Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, after receiving assurances of constitutional change and power-sharing. In a statement issued late on Wednesday, Hadi said the Houthis had a right to serve in posts in all state institutions, and a draft constitution that had been a source of disagreement between him and the group was open to amendment.He said the Houthis agreed to withdraw fighters from areas overlooking his palace, his private home and the official residence of the prime minister, as well as a missile base, and had promised to immediately free his chief of staff, whom they had held captive since Saturday.”The draft constitution is subject to amendments, deletions, streamlining and additions,” said the statement. All sides agreed government and state institutions, schools and universities should rapidly return to work, it added.A source close to Hadi said the president met an official from the armed group, and denied reports the head of state was under house arrest, despite two days of pitched battles outside his home.After clashes erupted at the president’s office and home on Tuesday, the Houthi leader, Abdel-Malik al-Houthi, had threatened to take further “measures” unless Hadi bowed to his demand for constitutional changes that would increase Houthi power. The Houthis, an ally of Iran, swept into the capital four months ago and have emerged as the dominant force in the country.For now at least they appear to have decided to stop short of overthrowing Hadi, possibly preferring to exert control over a weakened leader rather than take on the burden of power.”President Hadi is still in his home. There is no problem, he can leave,” Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, a member of the Houthi politburo, told Reuters.Prime Minister Khaled Bahah quit his official residence, which had also been surrounded by Houthi fighters, for “a safe place after three days of siege”, one of his aides told the Reuters news agency.
