natasha guinane, al jazeera. >>> the u.s. withdrawal from an air base comes after 20 yemeni soldiers were killed in the same province on saturday. u.s. military personnel had been training yemeni fighters. against quap aqap, a to attack a u.s. bound plane. he had a bomb hidden in his underwear which failed to detonate. weapons training in yemen and during their stay there in july 2011 they met anwar alalaki martin riordan is senior vice president of the soufan group. he joins us here in doha. marty, that the u.s. pulled out special force he from yemen they might nt have not have known the u.s. had special forces in yemen. >> this makes all the sense in the world limited number of troops there specifically to take on the war or the fight against al qaeda in the arabian peninsula. they don't want those forces being caught in what may become a full blown civil war. >> because the axes of conflict are multiplying day by day. >> almost by the hour. >> the number of participants was getting too great. >> exactly. and this does not

. >> yemen's president abdul mansowrmansour hadi, natasha guinane report. >> abdel mansour hadi is a president whose role has become unclear. rebel shia houthis put him under arrest. now he's conducting business in the southern port city of aden. he met with several leaders of surrounding provinces. >> translator: we came carrying a message of peace to all yemen. >> the president asked the houthis to help unite country. he accused them of conspiring with iran to scuttle a democratic transition. >> translator: we called them for a dialogue. we do not know that the dialogue will bring rights to those oppressed, tens of years. the results of the dialogue support a united yemen. >> but houthi leaders seem to be focus owned the relationship with iran. the first direct flight from tehran arrived from senat this week. the houthis signed an agreement with iran to have 14 direct flights a week between the two countries. >> translator: these fights come in the context of breaking the international isolation imposed specifically by america and saudi arabia on yemen. iran, russia and other count

on the yemeni town of ta'izz natasha guinane has the story. >> reporter: they chant their disagreement of the houthis in ta'izz province. since the houthis arrival last weekend people have made it clear, they are not welcome. but the street may be losing to the heavily armed houthis. the shia houthis have been in control of sanaa since october. now the houthis are continuing their advance beyond the capital and getting closer to the president. but they say they're not after the leader. they insist they're fighting religious armed groups. in the province of mareb tribal leaders tell al jazeera they're managing to keep the houthis out. >> translator: the tribes are so peaceful that this gang of houthis have pulled us into war we will not leave our province even if they kill us all. >> reporter: with no success so far the daily battles continue in the mountains. >> translator: we are defending our land, our country. >> reporter: the houthis are saying the vaim thing. thesame thing. the warring sides are scheduled to go to qatar. jacky rowland, al jazeera yemen. >>> surveillance planes, fl

natasha guinane, al jazeera . >> leaked recordings have allegedly revealed how egypt's army preparations for a meeting between the former british prime minister tony blair and abdel fattah al-sisi the then commander in chief of the egyptian army. and another an aid is heard talking to another official about using money from the united arab emirates to bankroll the tamarod movement which led the campaign against morsi which ended in a coup in 2013. >>> it is the oldest profession in the world and in south africa one of the most risky. 60% of sex workers on south africa's streets are hiv positive and as tanya page reports, they are demanding a law to make their jobs safer. >> as sex workers services cost about $2.50 but some men pay more so they don't have to wear a condom. 60% of south africa's sex workers are hiv positive but many don't get help because their trade is illegal. so some human rights workers want sex work decriminalized. they argue the law isn't in tune with reality. the government encourages condom use but some police use them as proof of criminality and brings their use t

natasha guinane, al jazeera. >> russia says it must take steps to prevent its citizens to join i.s.i.l. some are fighting with i.s.i.l. in syria and iraq. they say i.s.i.l. poses a very serious threat to the region. at least five people who returned from fighting were killed in security sweeps last year. >>> nigeria claims a major victory against boko haram. officials say the army had taken the north eastern town of gor-za. the military released these pictures of the conflict. analysts say even if boko haram was forced out the group still has the ability to stage attacks attacks. >>> nigerians go to the polls tomorrow for presidential elections. >> and one issue facing voters, coming up we'll look at the major issues of concern for the biggest economy. >>> and turkey greatly expands the duties of the police and that concerns citizens. >> in our off the radar segment flit, we're going to focus on strict security issues in turkey. >> the government says new police are needed, newly empowered police will abuse their authority. bernard smith reports from istanbul. >> this police officer wa