President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi. (AP)
Yemeni President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi led a meeting of governors in the southern city of Aden today as he resumed some of his duties after escaping house arrest in the capital.
The Western-backed leader fled to Aden yesterday after sneaking out of his residence in Sanaa, where he was being held by a Shiite militia group that has seized control of the capital.
The militiamen, known as Huthis, have installed a "presidential" council to replace Hadi, who after his escape declared all their measures "null and illegitimate".
Hadi tendered his resignation last month under pressure from the Huthis but it was never approved by parliament.
Today he received the governors of various southern Yemeni provinces, Aden governor Abdulaziz bin Habtoor said.
"The president will keep up his political efforts to lead from Aden," bin Habtoor told reporters after the meeting, which was also attended by army and security chiefs.
"His priority is to normalise the security situation in Aden in order to receive foreign delegates who have requested appointments to meet him," he said.
Aden is jointly controlled by troops loyal to Hadi and allied local militia known as the Popular Committees.
Southern Yemen is friendly territory for Hadi, himself a southerner, and local leaders have refused to recognise the authority of the council formed by the Huthis.
An aide to Hadi said the president used the meeting to call for restarting a political transition process that stalled after the Huthis overran Sanaa in September.
"He underlined the need to implement the recommendations of the national dialogue" which include turning the republic into a federation of six regions, the aide said.
The Huthis, who hail from the northern Saada province where they fought the central government for a decade, have rejected the proposed division of regions in the federation plan.
The president called yesterday for the national commission overseeing the drafting of a new constitution to again convene, saying it should meet in Aden or Taez province until Sanaa "returns as a safe capital for all Yemenis".
Aden 'temporary capital'
By escaping house arrest, "Hadi has regained the political initiative and stripped the Huthis of legitimacy," said analyst Fahd Sultan of the Yemeni Political Reform organisation.
Talks sponsored by UN envoy Jamal Benomar in Sanaa to end the political deadlock stalled yesterday following Hadi's escape but were expected to resume late today.
Benomar had announced on Thursday a "breakthrough" in talks as parties, including Huthis, agreed on the "form of the legislative authority in the interim period."
But the pan-Arab Nasserist party said such discussions are "no longer useful" and invited Hadi to "assumes his duties as a head of state."
Powerful tribes in the oil-rich province of Marib, east of Sanaa, went further, urging Hadi to declare Aden a "temporary capital of Yemen until Sanaa is liberated."
"Hadi's exit has turned the table on all parties, especially those involved in talks," said political analyst Majed al-Modhaji.
It also "marks a change in the balance of power in favour of the state and at the expense of the Huthis," according to Ibrahim Sharqieh, from the Brookings Institution in Doha.
He said that Hadi, elected by some seven million voters on February 21, 2012, "continues to represent the legitimate authority at home and internationally."
The Huthis last month seized the presidential palace and besieged Hadi's residence, prompting him to offer his resignation.
They have pushed their advance south and west into mainly Sunni areas of Yemen, where they have met with fierce resistance from tribesmen and Al-Qaeda.
The crisis has raised fears of Yemen - a key US ally in the fight against Al-Qaeda that borders Saudi Arabia - collapsing into a failed state.