SANA, Yemen — President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi of Yemen remained behind closed doors at his residence on Wednesday, surrounded by the Houthi militiamen who drove away his guards from the residence and the presidential palace the day before, raising fears of a coup.

Mr. Hadi made no public statement, fueling the rumors swirling in the capital that he had fled, perhaps to southern Yemen, or was being held against his will. But Ali al-Qalhoom, a Houthi political leader, said on Wednesday that Mr. Hadi was safe and at his home.

“We have been in negotiations with him, and everything is normal,” Mr. Qalhoom said. It was unclear, though, whether the president was allowed to leave the residence.

The situation surrounding Mr. Hadi’s prime minister, Khalid Bahah, was unclear. He had been held for several days in the Republican Palace by the Houthis, who extended their control in the capital by seizing a military missile base, according to Yemeni officials and diplomats. But on Wednesday, a spokesman for Yemen’s embassy in Washington said in a Twitter post that Mr. Bahah had moved to a private residence and was “safe and sound.”

After days of heavy clashes in the city, the streets appeared calm on Wednesday as residents waited for the Houthis’ next move.

In a speech late Tuesday, the 33-year-old leader of the group, Abdel-Malik al-Houthi, delivered a lengthy ultimatum to Mr. Hadi, demanding his cooperation on several contested political issues, including fighting corruption and amending a draft constitution.

Mr. Houthi stopped short of announcing a takeover of the government, but analysts and diplomats said on Wednesday that the Houthis had become Yemen’s de facto ruling power. No military units, except perhaps Mr. Hadi’s scattered guards, appeared to be contesting the Houthis’ dominance, the analysts and diplomats said.

There were concerns that conflict might break out in southern Yemen, where militiamen, including some loyal to Mr. Hadi, moved to close the Aden airport and seal off areas along the former border between southern and northern Yemen, according to witnesses.

Reacting to the turmoil, the former president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, released a statement on Wednesday calling for early elections, The Associated Press reported. Mr. Saleh, who ruled Yemen for more than three decades and left power as part of a negotiated deal after an uprising against his rule in 2011, has remained a powerful and often disruptive force in Yemeni politics. He was widely suspected of backing the Houthis as they captured large parts of the capital in September.

In November, the United States imposed financial sanctions on Mr. Saleh, accusing him of supporting the violence by the Houthis during their takeover of Sana. In recent months, Mr. Saleh’s supporters have actively promoted the idea that Mr. Saleh’s eldest son, Ahmed Ali Saleh, should run in elections to replace Mr. Hadi as president.

NY Times