Yemen's president said Thursday he is handing his powers to a new leadership council, in a major shake-up in the coalition battling Huthi rebels as a fragile ceasefire takes hold.

Yemen's President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, seen here in Riyadh in 2020, has been based in Saudi Arabia since fleeing to the kingdom in 2015 as rebel forces closed in on his last redoubt
Yemen's President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, seen here in Riyadh in 2020, has been based in Saudi Arabia since fleeing to the kingdom in 2015 as rebel forces closed in on his last redoubt Yemeni Presidency via AFP

But Huthi spokesman Mohammed Abdulsalam dismissed the move as "a desperate attempt to rearrange the ranks of the mercenaries" fighting in Yemen, and said peace would only come once foreign forces leave.

President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi made the announcement in a televised statement on the final day of Yemen talks held in the Saudi capital Riyadh.

Trucks leave Yemen's rebel-held port of Hodeida on Tuesday with desperately needed food supplies after the Saudi-led coalition eases its naval blockade as part of a fragile ceasefire
Trucks leave Yemen's rebel-held port of Hodeida on Tuesday with desperately needed food supplies after the Saudi-led coalition eases its naval blockade as part of a fragile ceasefire AFP

"I irreversibly delegate to this presidential leadership council my full powers," he said.

Saudi Arabia said it welcomed Hadi's announcement and pledged $3 billion in aid and support for its war-torn neighbour, some of it to be paid by the United Arab Emirates.

Protesters take to the streets in Yemen's goverment-held third city Taez, angry that the ceasefire has not put an end to a protracted rebel siege
Protesters take to the streets in Yemen's goverment-held third city Taez, angry that the ceasefire has not put an end to a protracted rebel siege AFP / AHMAD AL-BASHA

Hadi's internationally recognised government has been locked in conflict with the Iran-backed Huthis, who control the capital Sanaa and most of the north despite a Saudi-led military intervention launched in 2015.

Hadi has been based in Saudi Arabia since fleeing to the kingdom that year as rebel forces closed in on his last redoubt, the southern port city of Aden.

Yemenis displaced by conflict receive food aid and provisions to meet their basic needs at a camp in the Khokha district of Yemen's war-ravaged western province of Hodeida, on January 31, 2022
Yemenis displaced by conflict receive food aid and provisions to meet their basic needs at a camp in the Khokha district of Yemen's war-ravaged western province of Hodeida, on January 31, 2022 AFP / Khaled Ziad

A United Nations-brokered truce that took effect last Saturday -- the first day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan -- has offered a glimmer of hope in the conflict which has triggered what the UN calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

The truce came as discussions on Yemen were unfolding in Riyadh without the participation of the Huthis, who refused to attend talks on "enemy" territory.

Map of Yemen locating Hodeida and Saada
Map of Yemen locating Hodeida and Saada AFP / Sophie RAMIS

The talks concluded Thursday with Yemeni Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalik Saeed calling on the new leadership council "to start negotiations with the Huthis under the supervision of the United Nations in order to reach a final and comprehensive political solution".

A United Nations-brokered truce that took effect last Saturday has offered a glimmer of hope in the conflict which has triggered what the UN calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis
A United Nations-brokered truce that took effect last Saturday has offered a glimmer of hope in the conflict which has triggered what the UN calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis AFP / ESSA AHMED

Some analysts had cast doubt on what the negotiations could achieve in the absence of the Huthis, but Thursday's news may help the sometimes fractious coalition battling the rebels to speak with one voice in any future peace negotiations.

A fighter loyal to Yemen's Huthi rebels wears a vest adorned with a stencilled image of Huthi group founder Hussein Badr al-Din al-Huthi in Yemen's rebel-held capital Sanaa on January 31, 2022
A fighter loyal to Yemen's Huthi rebels wears a vest adorned with a stencilled image of Huthi group founder Hussein Badr al-Din al-Huthi in Yemen's rebel-held capital Sanaa on January 31, 2022 AFP / MOHAMMED HUWAIS

"The status quo was going nowhere," Elisabeth Kendall, a researcher at Oxford University, told AFP.

"Something big needed to change to get the warring parties on track to a political process. This transfer of presidential powers could be it."

Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, seen here in a picture released by the Saudi Royal Palace on May 31, 2019, who on Thursday said he would cede powers to new leadership council
Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, seen here in a picture released by the Saudi Royal Palace on May 31, 2019, who on Thursday said he would cede powers to new leadership council Saudi Royal Palace via AFP / Bandar AL-JALOUD

Peter Salisbury, senior Yemen analyst for the International Crisis Group, said on Twitter that the formation of the council represents "the most consequential shift in the inner workings of the anti-Huthi bloc since the war began".

But he cautioned that implementing the arrangement would be "complicated to say the least".

Hadi also announced he had sacked Vice President Ali Mohsen Al-Ahmar.

The new council will consist of eight members and be led by Rashad al-Alimi, a former interior minister and adviser to Hadi.

Hadi said it would be tasked with "negotiating with the Huthis for a permanent ceasefire".

He said it should also sit down for talks "to reach a final and comprehensive political solution, that includes a transitional phase that will move Yemen from a state of war to a state of peace".

Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, met the council and said he hoped for a "new page" to turn in Yemen, footage aired by state media showed.

The secretary-general of the Gulf Cooperation Council Nayef al-Hajraf also welcomed Hadi's announcement, pledging the bloc's support for the new council "in its tasks to achieve safety and security" in Yemen.

France said it welcomed the creation of the council and called it "an important step towards restoring a state that serves all Yemenis and is engaged in the political process".

Yemen's 30 million people are in dire need of assistance.

A UN donors' conference this month raised less than a third of its $4.27 billion target, prompting dark warnings for a country where 80 percent of the population depends on aid.

The UN special envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, said Wednesday that there had been a "significant reduction of violence" since the truce took effect but both sides have accused each other of minor "breaches" of the ceasefire.