- Title: Rally marks anniversary of Houthi takeover of Yemeni capital
- Date: 20th September 2018
- Summary: SANAA, YEMEN (SEPTEMBER 20, 2018) (REUTERS) MEN IN RALLY WAVING RED FLAGS AND CHANTING VARIOUS OF HOUTHI SOLDIERS HOLDING RED FLAGS AND CHANTING HOUTHI SLOGANS SOLDIER STANDING WITH SCREEN BEHIND HIM SHOWING HOUTHI LEADER GIVING SPEECH MEN SITTING DOWN AND LISTENING TO SPEECH SENIOR HOUTHI OFFICIALS SITTING AND LISTENING (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) HEAD OF THE HOUTHI SUPREME REVOLUTIONARY COMMITTEE, MOHAMMED ALI AL-HOUTHI, SAYING: "It's an occasion where we demonstrate our rejection of injustice, to show our support to the freedom fighters, and to show that we are taking the same path that Hussain Ibn Ali took against injustice from the first day." VARIOUS OF MEN STANDING HOLDING RED FLAGS AND CHANTING HOUTHI SLOGANS SIGN READING (Arabic): "Beware of humiliating us" SOLDIER STANDING HOLDING RED FLAG WITH CROWD BEHIND HIM CROWD CHANTING AND WAVING RED FLAGS (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) HOUTHI-ALIGNED JOURNALIST, ABDEL QUDOUS AL-SHAHARI, SAYING: "These people are free and honourable and came out today in the millions to state clearly that they will not succumb to the occupation and won't surrender to the conditions that are being imposed on us from Saudi Arabia, the UAE and the USA." MEN CHANTING
- Embargoed: 4th October 2018 19:38
- Keywords: Yemen Sanaa protest Houthi Ashura
- Location: SANAA, YEMEN
- City: SANAA, YEMEN
- Country: Yemen
- Topics: Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA0018YFNR5Z
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Thousands of Houthi supporters rallied in Yemen's capital on Thursday (September 20) to celebrate the anniversary of the movement's takeover of Sanaa four years ago.
In September 2014 the Shi'ite-dominated Houthi movement stunned Yemenis by capturing the capital Sanaa, after the country was thrown into political turmoil when mass protests in 2011 forced its long-serving president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, to step down.
In 2015, a coalition of Sunni Muslim Arab states, led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, intervened in Yemen's war against the Iranian-aligned Houthis after they drove the internationally recognised government out of Sanaa.
At the anniversary rally, Houthi supporters filled the streets waving red flags and chanting slogans in support of the government.
Several senior Houthi officials attended the rally, including the movement's leader Abdel Malik al-Houthi who gave a speech calling on his supporters to stand firm in the face of the Saudi-led coalition.
The anniversary was held on the same day as the Ashura, the holiest festival in the Shi'ite Muslims calendar, and commemorates the martyrdom in 680 AD of Imam Hussain Ibn Ali, one of the grandsons of the Prophet Mohammad.
The war has unleashed the world's most urgent humanitarian crisis in the nation of 28 million, where 8.4 million people are believed to be on the verge of starvation and 22 million people are dependent on aid. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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