SANAA

Yemen's Presidency on Wednesday said that it was ready to amend the Yemeni draft constitution and also expand the membership of the Shura Council within a week.

In a statement that was quoted by the official Yemeni news agency, the presidency called on Yemeni groups that signed a peace and partnership agreement in September of 2014 to draw up a mechanism for the implementation of the agreement in state institutions.

Mentioning Yemen's Shiite Houthis and the country's southern separatists, the presidency added that marginalized social groups would have their fair share of public posts in the light of a national dialogue that concluded in January of 2014 and the peace and partnership agreement.

The presidency, meanwhile, said the Houthis, who have been controlling Yemeni capital Sanaa since September, had promised to release Ahmed bin Mubarak, an aide of the Yemeni Presidency who was detained by the Houthis two days ago.

The Houthis had also promised to pull out of checkpoints they have created since Monday, the presidency said in its statement.

The presidency noted that state institutions in Sanaa would go back to normal work as quickly as possible.

It called on Sanaa's civil servants to go back to work and schools and universities to reopen in coordination with Houthi vigilantes.

The presidential statement comes only a day after Houthi leader Abdel-Malak al-Houthi laid down four conditions for ending Yemen's political crisis.

In a televised speech on Tuesday, al-Houthi cited four requirements for Yemen to end its political crisis.

These requirements, he added, included the need to reform the national agency tasked with monitoring the implementation of the recommendations that came out of the national dialogue conference, which concluded in January of last year.

He also called for amending Yemen's draft constitution, implementing the peace and partnership agreement, and improving the country's overall security situation.

Yemen was rocked by more instability on Monday when Houthi militants clashed with presidential guard units before taking control of the presidential palace in capital Sanaa.

The Houthis, who have maintained control of Sanaa since last September, also detained Prime Minister Khaled Bahah inside the presidential palace.