U.S. Ally Held ‘Captive’ in Yemen

The life of the leading U.S. ally against Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninusla is danger. Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi is being held "captive" by rebels, according to two of his aides. They claim he "cannot leave his house" after the Shiite Houthi rebels removed his guards and put their own fighters in place on Wednesday. One of the advisers says the situation has reached the "point of no return," as the military is in disarray while the country's security apparatus has been "crippled." Senior Houthi leader Abdel Malik al-Houthi gave a televised speech late Tuesday and called the attack a warning to Hadi to meet demands for political change and not an attempted coup. He added if the president did not respond, "all necessary measures will be open." Meanwhile, the U.S. military has deployed two Navy amphibious ships to the Red Sea to help evacuate U.S. embassy personnel should the State Department issue an evacuation, Pentagon officials said Tuesday. The U.S. embassy remains open as of now.