SANAA, November 13 (Sputnik) — The so-called Yemeni regime collapsed due to external influence, the country's former President Ali Abdullah Saleh said Thursday in an interview with Sputnik.
"It is necessary to know that the regime has fallen apart because it is based on the external support, on US, UK ambassadors," Saleh said.
Yemen is currently in a state of political crisis. The main opposition movement in the country, the Houthi Shiites, began anti-government protests in August, urging economic and political reforms. In September, the Houthi overran Sanaa, seizing administrative and military infrastructure, and raiding the homes of government officials, including party leaders. The militants gained control of the entrances to the city, occupied residential buildings, and used abandoned structures to store weapons and ammunition.
In September, the Yemeni government and its opponents struck a peace accord, welcomed by the UN, which called for an immediate end to violence and the rapid formation of a new government. In early November, Yemen's president swore in a new government, but has failed to quell the unrest in the country.