Yemeni Nobel laureate activist condemns Houthis

ISTANBUL

Tawakkol Karman, a Yemeni Nobel Peace Prize Laureate has slammed her social media accounts, the armed rebel group in Yemen that reportedly took over the presidential palace in the capital Sanaa on Wednesday. 

"The brute force you use to humiliate Yemen and test the patience of its great people will turn against you," she said, calling the leader of the group Abdelmalek al-Houthi "illegitimate."

The country has been in turmoil recently because of an armed conflict between the government forces and Shiite Muslim Houthi militias.

Karman, a Yemeni journalist and activist who became the face of Yemeni uprising in 2011 as part of the Arab Spring that ousted then-President Ali Saleh, expressed support for western-backed president, Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi.

"We appreciate your steadfastness and refusal of the armed militants’ blackmail and bullying supported by the ousted Ali Abdullah Saleh," said the activist, referring to the current turmoil as a "coup" against Hadi.

"Yemeni people refuse you and refuse your project financed and managed by Iran," she added. 

The Houthis, who accuse the president of corruption, seized control of Sanaa in September of 2014 and have since then moved to extend their control to other provinces.

The leader of the armed group, al-Houthi, called for the amendment of a draft constitution, implementation of a peace and partnership agreement and comprehensive reform of the nation's security apparatus.

Several Arab capitals accuse Shiite Iran of backing Yemen's ongoing Houthi insurgency.

In recent weeks, the capital was rocked by clashes around the presidential palace, which left scores of dead.

President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi is currently inside his home in downtown Sanaa.

Tawakkol Karman received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011.