Tensions flare in Yemen’s camp

SANAA — New signs of tension between Yemen's Houthi rebels and former president Ali Abdullah Saleh emerged on Thursday with a fresh wave of mutual accusations threatening their three-year alliance.

Saleh and the Shiite Houthis have jointly controlled the capital Sanaa since September 2014, but tensions have been rising in their ranks since a public dispute between the two in August. 

Saleh's General People's Congress (GPC) on Thursday complained of humiliation at the hands of the Houthis, accusing the rebels of waging an "orchestrated campaign" against the former strongman. 

In an open letter to Ansar Allah, the political party led by rebel chief Abdulmalik Al Houthi, the GPC said its ministers in the unofficial rebel government had been "humiliated" by the Houthis, who "lack the will to maintain partnership". 

Ansar Allah fired back, accusing the GPC of breaking their pact with the Houthis and accepting funds from the rival government of President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, in a statement by the party's political leader Salah Sammad. 

Sammad accused the GPC of "sapping internal unity" and paralysing the rebel government. 

Cracks first surfaced between Saleh and Abdulmalik Al Houthi in August when the Houthis accused Saleh of treason after the former president publicly dismissed the Iran-backed rebels as "militias".

For decades sworn enemies, forces loyal to Saleh and the Houthis joined ranks in 2014 to drive the Hadi government out of Sanaa.

More than 8,600 people have been killed since the coalition joined the Yemen war in 2015.