Yemen president dismisses gov't, plans fuel subsidy to calm rebel protests
9/2/2014SANAA, Yemen — Yemen's President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi dismissed the government today and suggested a national unity administration, government sources told Reuters, in moves aimed at quieting weeks of protests by a Shia Muslim rebel group.
There was no immediate response from the Houthis, who have been fighting for years for more power for their sect in north Yemen and have massed tens of thousands of supporters in protests which have poured into the capital Sanaa.
Hadi also partially met their demands with plans to reduce petrol and diesel prices by 30 percent, the sources said, backtracking on unpopular cuts to fuel subsidies which drained Yemeni coffers but buoyed the country's impoverished citizens.