(MENAFN- Arab News) ADEN Yemen: Yemen's Westernbacked resigned president fled south on Saturday after weeks under house arrest by Shiite militia in a surprise move that has stalled UNsponsored talks to fill the political vacuum.

Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi arrived in the main southern city of Aden where his supporters have refused to recognize the authority of the presidential council installed by the Houthi militia to replace him an aide told AFP.

The aide said that presidential guards managed to sneak Hadi out of his residence in the capital insisting that the departure was not negotiated with the Houthis.

There were conflicting reports on Hadi's intention to address the nation within 48 hours.

His aide said Hadi will call on parliament to meet in Aden as powerful tribes in the provinces of Marib Jawaf and Baida urged him to declare Sanaa an 'occupied city' a tribal source said.

He said Hadi 'remains the legitimate president and that he resigned under pressure from Houthis.'

But Aden Mayor Abdulaziz bin Habtoor who is close to Hadi and met him on arrival told AFP the president does not intend to make a speech adding that he is 'sticking to his resignation.'

Hadi's resignation did not receive the parliamentary approval required under the constitution before the Houthis unilaterally dissolved all government institutions on February 6.

Hadi traveled overland in a convoy of dozens of vehicles a top security official in Aden said. He passed through Yemen's third city Taez which like Aden is outside Houthi control.

A source in the presidential force said Houthi gunmen at Hadi's residence were tricked into looting a vehicle carrying arms while Hadi was sneaked out of a back gate.

The aide insisted that Hadi left 'without an arrangement or even informing any of the political parties.'

The security official in Aden told AFP that Hadi was staying in a presidential residence in the port city's Khormaksar diplomatic district.

The Houthi militiamen whose power base is in Yemen's mainly Shiite northern highlands overran Sanaa unopposed in September.

Last month they seized the presidential palace and besieged Hadi's residence prompting him to offer to resign.

The Houthis have pushed their advance south and west of Sanaa into mainly Sunni areas where they have met with fierce resistance from tribesmen and AlQaeda militants.

But Taez and some other parts of the north and all of the south remain beyond the militia's control.

Hadi is a southerner although he spent nearly three decades in the north serving as defense minister and vice president before becoming president in 2012 when veteran strongman Ali Abdullah Saleh was forced from power by a bloody yearlong uprising.

Hadi has always defended the 1990 union of the north with the formerly independent south where secessionist sentiment has risen sharply.

But most troops and militia in the area have pledged allegiance to Hadi and his supporters hailed his arrival in the former southern capital as a gamechanger.

Nadia Sakkaf information minister in the government that resigned with Hadi called for the revision of UN proposals for a political settlement which special envoy Jamal Benomar hailed only on Thursday as a 'breakthrough.'

'The political situation and the balance of power has changed after the arrival of Hadi in Aden' she wrote on Twitter.

Sakkaf said that southern militiamen of the Popular Committees were ensuring Hadi's safety.

The militiamen have taken control of most police stations and checkpoints in Aden and clashed with special police they accuse of cooperating with the Houthis.

Benomar had been shuttling between the Houthis and their opponents for weeks trying to forge a settlement.

On Thursday he said the parties had agreed on a new legislative authority to engage the Houthis and southern separatists in an 'important step toward achieving a comprehensive political agreement that would end the current crisis.'

But Sanaa talks aimed at ironing out differences were suspended Saturday because of 'new developments' the representative of youth groups to the talks Bassem AlHakimi told AFP.

'Hadi's exit has turned the table on all parties especially those involved in talks' added political analyst Majed AlModhaji.

Last weekend the UN Security Council urged the Houthis to 'immediately and unconditionally' engage in 'good faith' in UNbrokered negotiations withdraw their forces from government institutions and relinquish power.

It also demanded that the militia release Hadi Prime Minister Khalid Bahah and other officials and activists under de facto house arrest or in detention.