SANAA
Yemeni authorities reopened on Sunday capital Sanaa's main road leading to the airport for the first time in over a month after supporters of Shiite Houthi group removed the remains of a major anti-government protest encampment.
The Yemeni Defense Ministry's website reported that "life has returned to normal" in northern Sanaa's Airport district after Houthis cleared the area of tents which they had set up by when their sit-in against the government of former prime minister Mohamed Basindawa kicked off in early September.
Last week, Houthis backed a presidential decree appointing Khaled Bahah as the new Yemeni prime minister. The group, whose supporters have been staging major protests across Sanaa, had earlier opposed the appointment of Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak to succeed Basindawa, who resigned in late September.
Observers saw Houthis' move to clear the protest encampment as a message of assurances to political forces in Yemen that the group would abide by a reconciliation agreement signed with Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi on September 21.
The agreement was signed soon after thousands of Houthis controlled the Yemeni capital and its government facilities.
Yemen has been suffering turmoil since a popular uprising that started in 2011 ousted longtime president Ali Abdullah Saleh in 2012.
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