RIYADH: GCC foreign ministers on Wednesday accused Shiite militia in Yemen of attempting to stage a “coup” against President Abdu Rabbo Mansour Hadi, a day after the Houthi fighters seized the presidential palace.

“The states of the Gulf Cooperation Council consider what happened in Sanaa on Tuesday... a coup against the legitimate authority,” the ministers said in a statement following an emergency meeting in Riyadh.

The GCC also expressed support for the “constitutionally legitimate authority” of Hadi, and rejected “all measures aimed at imposing change by force.”

They warned that Gulf states “would take all measures necessary to protect their security, stability and vital interests in Yemen.”

The ministers offered to send a GCC envoy to Yemen for mediation if the Houthis withdrew from the presidential palace and other government buildings and freed Hadi’s abducted chief of staff Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak. They also called for the withdrawal of militiamen around Hadi’s residence in western Sanaa.

At least 35 people were killed and 94 others wounded in 48 hours of battles pitting Shiite militia against security forces in Sanaa, medical and security sources said Wednesday.

Two Hadi’s advisers said the Houthis are holding the president “captive” at his home. They said Hadi “cannot leave his house” after the Houthi rebels removed his guards and deployed their own fighters at the premises on Wednesday.

One of the advisers says the situation in Yemen has reached the “point of no return,” that the military is in a shambles while the country’s security apparatus has been “crippled” after the Houthis’ blitz.

Yemen’s second city Aden shut its airport in support of Hadi on Wednesday.