13 August 2016•Update: 14 August 2016
By Zakaria al-Kamali
SANAA
Yemen’s parliament convened Saturday for the first time since the Shia Houthi group and allies captured capital Sanaa two years ago.
Some 140 lawmakers of the 301-seat parliament attended Saturday’s session amid tight security measures, according to the pro-Houthi al-Masirah television.
Yemen fell into a civil war in late 2014 when the Houthis and allied forces of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh overran Sanaa and other provinces, forcing President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi and his Saudi-backed government to temporarily flee to Riyadh.
In March of last year, Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies launched a massive military campaign in Yemen aimed at reversing Houthi gains and restoring Hadi’s embattled government.
On Saturday, Hadi described the parliament session as illegal and warned that lawmakers attending it could be prosecuted.
UN-brokered talks between the Yemeni government and Houthis have failed to resolve the conflict.
After the UN-sponsored talks collapsed last week, the Houthis and Saleh’s General People’s Congress party announced a political council to run the country.
