Houthi rebels released Yemen’s former prime minister and members of his cabinet after nearly two months of house detention on Monday, in a sign of some progress toward easing the country’s chaotic political crisis.

In a note he posted on his Facebook page on Monday, former Prime Minister Khaled Bahah called his release a “good-will gesture,” and praised the Houthi leadership as well as the United Nations envoy to Yemen for arranging it. It means that he and the other ministers have “absolute freedom to travel inside and outside the country,” he said.

Mr. Bahah also said he hoped his release could help rescue the country from a deepening crisis that began in September, when the Houthis, a Zaydi Shiite rebel group from northern Yemen, took control of the capital, Sana. The rebels were demanding political reforms from the government of President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi.

In January, the rebels expanded their power grab by seizing the presidential palace and placing Mr. Hadi, Mr. Bahah and the rest of the government under house arrest.

Last month, Mr. Hadi fled Houthi custody and traveled to the southern port city of Aden, where he declared that he was still Yemen’s rightful president. Seeking to bolster that claim, several Persian Gulf nations announced that they were moving their embassies to Aden.

The United States, which closed its embassy in Sana in February after the arrest of Mr. Hadi, has not announced any plans to move its diplomatic facilities to Aden.

Even before the crisis began, Yemen was the region’s most impoverished country, suffering from a vacuum of central authority that made it an attractive haven for a powerful affiliate of Al Qaeda. Now, with Yemen split between competing power centers in the north and south, concerns have also grown that the dispute could deteriorate into a civil war.

The crisis has also transformed Yemen into a stage for the region’s enmities. The Houthis, facing growing international isolation in the capital they control, have turned to their longtime Iranian allies for support, while Saudi Arabia, Iran’s rival, has rallied the monarchies of the Persian Gulf behind Mr. Hadi.

In his message on Monday, Mr. Bahah, who resigned his post after his arrest, said he and the government would not resume their duties and warned of “dire consequences” if the political process was abandoned.

He said he was leaving the capital to be with his family, and he called his long ordeal “a unique experience in my career.”

NY Times