Yemen's outgoing president withdraws resignation

Yemen's outgoing President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi has officially decided to withdraw his resignation after he left the country's capital Sanaa and resumed carrying on his presidential duties in the port city of Aden earlier this week, a government official told Xinhua news agency Tuesday.

"Late Monday night, President Hadi submitted an official letter to the parliament speaker and representatives, asking to withdraw his resignation," the local government official based in Aden said on condition of anonymity.

On Sunday, Hadi started discharge his presidential duties by holding a number of meetings with high-ranking military officials and governors from the country's northern and southern provinces, according to government sources.

During the meeting, Hadi confirmed that he was the legitimate president and reassured his commitment to the political process based on the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) initiative as the main reference.

Hadi left his house in the capital Sanaa Saturday after about three weeks of house arrest imposed by the Shia Houthi militants since late January when they seized control of the capital, and moved to the southern port city of Aden.

He took office in 2012, but submitted his resignation to the parliament Jan 22 amid a standoff with the Houthi group. Hadi and most of his cabinet members had since been put under house arrest.

Yemen, one of the most impoverished countries in the world, has seen unrest since January when Hadi and Bahah submitted resignations after the Houthi group took the presidential palace by force.

The parliament has announced that the emergent session due to vote on Hadi's resignation has been delayed indefinitely.

The Houthi group released a "constitutional declaration" earlier this month, announcing the formation of a presidential committee and national committee to replace the presidency and parliament. However, the Houthis' move was rejected by most of the country's political parties.

Under the mediation of UN envoy Jamal Benomar, Yemen's political parties resumed talks Feb 9 to resolve the crisis.

Sources said the parties initially agreed on the formation of a presidential council based on the GCC deal that laid the ground for the political transition in Yemen since 2011, but the dispute over the legitimacy of the parliament remains.