Syria regime 'orders Houthis out, Yemen gov't in' at Damascus embassy

The Syrian regime has ordered the Houthi rebels to leave the Yemeni embassy in Damascus to make way for the rival internationally-recognised government, a Yemeni minister has reportedly said.

Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak told Independent Arabia that he had been informed by his Syrian regime counterpart that the Houthis had been "removed" from the embassy building. 

"I was officially informed by the Syrian foreign minister that they removed the Houthis from the Yemeni embassy building in Damascus," bin Mubarak said.

"This came as a result of our recent meetings with the Syrian brothers in Egypt and Saudi Arabia," bin Mubarak was reported on Wednesday as saying.

The Yemeni minister said the government was "immediately prepared" to appoint a diplomatic mission in Damascus.

A senior member of the Houthi government appeared to confirm the news in a Facebook post on Wednesday.

"Four days ago the Syrian leadership issued a decision to close our embassy in Damascus," finance ministry official Khaled al-Arassi said, describing the closure as a "tragedy".

The order for closure comes amid a Saudi Arabia-led push for reconciliation between Syria and other Arab states.

The regime of Bashar al-Assad had largely been left isolated by neighbouring states after its brutal crackdown on protesters led to a civil war that has killed more than half a million people.

But Saudi Arabia's diplomatic moves in recent months have seen the Syrian regime's ties with several Arab countries warm considerably.

During its isolation, the regime has been heavily dependent on support from Iran - which is also a backer of the Houthi rebels.

The Houthis have been fighting Yemeni government forces since 2014, in a war that has directly or indirectly claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people.

A Saudi-led coalition intervened in the war on the side of Yemeni government forces in 2015.

The Houthis had external diplomatic representation only in Iran and Syria. The rebels had diplomatic representation in Syria since 2016, the year they formed a self-proclaimed government to administer Yemeni territory under their control.

Saudi and Syrian foreign ministers met Wednesday in Cairo on the sidelines of an Arab League meeting called to address fighting between Hamas and Israel. 

A Saudi foreign ministry statement said the two discussed "developments in the situation in Gaza", as well as "a number of issues of common interest".