Yemen's deposed Hadi brands 'coup' illegitimate after fleeing house arrest

Hours after fleeing house arrest, Yemen's deposed president denounced a "coup" against his authority and issued a direct challenge to the faction now in control of the capital.

The statement from President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi injected fresh uncertainty into efforts to prevent Yemen from breaking up or sliding into civil conflict. It was the latest twist of events in the ongoing crisis enveloping the strategically situated Arab nation of 24 million.

Hours before Hadi's evening statement on Saturday, news surfaced that he had fled house arrest in Sanaa and had arrived in the southern port city of Aden, where he has considerable political support.

Hadi issued his statement from Aden, hub of a secessionist drive that has been gaining momentum since the northern-based Houthi movement seized the capital in September. The Houthi takeover has heightened tensions between northern and southern Yemen, which merged into a single nation in 1990.

Hadi labelled as "illegitimate" all government appointments and actions since the Houthi faction overran Sanaa. The Houthis had placed Hadi and others in his government under house arrest and dissolved parliament.

He also demanded that the international community "defend the political process and reject the coup".