Foreign ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) attend an emergency meeting on January 21, 2015 in the Saudi capital Riyadh. Gulf foreign ministers accused Shia militia in Yemen of attempting to stage a "coup" against President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi, a day after the Huthi fighters seized the presidential palace. AFP
AFP/ Riyadh
Gulf foreign ministers on Wednesday accused Shia militia in Yemen of attempting to stage a "coup" against President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi, a day after the Huthi fighters seized the presidential palace.
"The states of the Gulf Cooperation Council consider what happened in Sanaa on Tuesday... a coup against the legitimate authority," the ministers said in a statement following an emergency meeting in Riyadh.
The GCC also expressed support for the "constitutionally legitimate authority" of Hadi, and rejected "all measures aimed at imposing change by force".
They warned that Gulf states "would take all measures necessary to protect their security, stability and vital interests in Yemen."
The ministers offered to send a GCC envoy to Yemen for mediation if the Huthis withdrew from the presidential palace and other government buildings and freed Hadi's abducted chief of staff Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak.
They also called for the withdrawal of militiamen around Hadi's residence in western Sanaa.
