President Hadi flees Yemen by boat as rebels close in

Yemeni security and port officials say that President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi has left the country by sea, on a boat from the port of Aden, as Shiite rebels and their allies advance on this southern city.

The officials told The Associated Press that Hadi left with his aides after 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday. The entourage departed by two boats, under heavy security. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to reporters.

They would not disclose Hadi’s destination. Yemen’s embattled president had been scheduled to attend an Arab Summit in Egypt on the weekend.

Hadi’s escape from Yemen comes as the rebels known as the Houthis are closing in on Aden and the city’s fall appears imminent.

Earlier Wednesday, Hadi fled his palace in Aden as Shiite rebels offered cash bounty for his capture and arrested his defense minister.

He left just hours after the rebels’ own television station said they seized an air base where U.S. troops and Europeans advised the country in its fight against al-Qaida militants. That air base is only 35 miles away from Aden, the port city where Hadi had established a temporary capital.

Witnesses said they saw a convoy of presidential vehicles Wednesday leaving Hadi’s palace, located at the top of a hill in Aden overlooking the Arabian Sea.

The advance of the Shiite rebels, known as Houthis, threatens to plunge the Arab world’s poorest country into a civil war that could draw in its Gulf neighbors. Already, Hadi has asked the United Nations to authorize a foreign military intervention in the country.

Yemen’s state television broadcaster, controlled by Houthis, made an offer of some $100,000 for Hadi’s capture. Officials meanwhile said that the country’s Defense Minister Maj.-Gen. Mahmoud al-Subaihi and his top aide were arrested in the southern city of Lahj, where fighting with Houthi forces was ongoing, before they were transferred to Sanaa.

Already, military officials said militias and military units loyal to Hadi had “fragmented,” speeding the rebel advance. They said the rebels were fighting Hadi’s allied forces on five different fronts Wednesday.

Mohammed Abdel-Salam, a spokesman for the Houthis, said that their forces were not aiming to “occupy” the south.

“They will be in Aden in few hours,” Abdel-Salam told the Houthis’ satellite Al-Masirah news channel.

This story was originally published March 25, 2015 at 6:44 AM with the headline "President Hadi flees Yemen by boat as rebels close in."