Yemen's ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh said the Houthis (Ansarallah) feared a "coup" but claimed there were no longer any tensions with them, despite recent strains, AFP reported Tuesday (September 5th).
"There is no crisis and conflict at the moment," Saleh said late Monday in an interview on Al-Yemen Al-Yom television, which his party controls.
On August 24th, thousands put on a show of force for Saleh at a rally marking the 35th anniversary of his General People's Congress (GPC) party.
"There were fears and suspicions that the rally would be a coup" against the Iran-backed Houthis, and "this is what their leaders told us”, Saleh said.
Cracks emerged in the alliance between Saleh and Huthi after the two publicly accused each other of treason and back-stabbing.
In an August 26th outbreak of violence between the allies, a colonel loyal to Saleh and two Houthis were killed.
