Yemenis protest killing of Shia Houthi envoy to talks

People have staged a demonstration in the Yemeni capital, Sana’a, calling for the resignation of the government after the assassination of a law professor representing Shia Houthis at reconciliation talks.

Protesters marched from the Saba roundabout towards the government headquarters in central Sana’a on Thursday while carrying portraits of Ahmed Sharafeddin.

On Tuesday, unknown gunmen shot dead Sharafeddin in the capital as he drove to a hotel that hosted the reconciliation talks.

The protesters chanted “The people want to overthrow the government” and “Government of corruption, leave the country.”

The protesters said in a statement that Sharafeddin’s assassination was “shameful” and accused the government of “plotting, collaborating with, and protecting criminals.”

“We demand the overthrow of the so-called consensus government, which has failed to provide us with security, stability, and protection,” said the statement read out by one of the demonstrators.

Sharafeddin was the second representative of the Houthi movement to the negotiations who was killed. Lawmaker Abdulkarim Jadban was killed in a similar attack in November 2013.

This came as fighting between Houthis and militants from Hashid tribe resumed in northern Amran Province after a series of government-brokered ceasefires.

On Tuesday, some 20 people from both sides were killed in the clashes.

The Houthis say the tribe is helping Salafist groups fighting them in the town of Dammaj in Sa’ada Province.

The Houthis, led by Sheikh Abdel-Malek al-Houthi, control parts of northern Yemen.

They accuse the government of violating their civil rights and marginalizing them politically, economically and religiously.