Hadi escaped from the capital, Sanaa, on Saturday after being under house arrest for a month following his resignation under pressure from Houthi rebels. After his escape, he released a statement declaring he is still President of Yemen, and calling all political decision made since September illegal and invalid.
The statement from the Gulf Cooperation Council Monday echoed Hadi, with council members stressing that all procedures taken by the Houthi after their coup were invalid.
According to two presidential aides, Hadi met Monday with an official Saudi delegation that informed him of Saudi Arabia’s recognition of him as the constitutional President of Yemen.
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The Houthis’ takeover of Sanaa stunned governments of Western nations, which pulled out diplomatic staff this month.
Foreign evacuation continued in the Yemeni capital as Egypt evacuated all its Embassy staff and closed its Embassy on Monday morning. Earlier this month, the United States, along with most European and Gulf countries, suspended operations in their embassies in Yemen amid growing unrest.
CNN’s Jason Hanna, Ed Payne, Ben Brumfield and Greg Botelho contributed to this report.
