Sanaa , Yemen ( CNN ) Hundreds of thousands of supporters of Yemeni President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi filled the streets of seven Yemeni provinces on Sunday , one day after Hadi escaped house arrest in the capital , Sanaa . Hadi had been under house arrest for a month after he resigned under pressure from Houthi rebels . But he escaped and released a statement saying he is still president , calling all political decisions made since September illegal and invalid . A nephew of the president was kidnapped Sunday by Houthi rebels , two security officials in Ibb province told CNN . The nephew , Nasser Ahmed Mansour Hadi , was heading to the seaport province of Aden , where the President fled after escaping from house arrest in the capital , Sanaa . Protesters called for Hadi to stand against the Houthi coup . Sanaa saw the largest demonstrations urging Hadi to end militant occupation of Sanaa . `` The Houthis thought they could not be stopped , and it only took hours for them to fall in the eyes of the people . Yemen has a president and the people will stand with him to uproot the Houthi militants from Sanaa , '' Ali Al-Saedi , a protest organizer in Sanaa , told CNN . In Taiz , tens of thousands took to the streets to show support for the legitimacy of the president and condemn the continued Houthi takeover of the capital . They carried placards reading `` Out to militant rule , return of government institutions . '' Last month , Houthis attacked the presidential palace and ministerial Cabinet , forcing both the president and prime minister to resign . Houthi militants then put Hadi under house arrest . Since then , Houthis have failed to form a government or reach a deal with other political factions for the formation of a presidential council . The militants tightened their grip on power over the last month , but the House of Representatives has not met to accept Hadi 's resignation . Hours after Hadi fled Sanaa on Saturday , Houthi officials tried to force parliamentarians to meet immediately to accept his resignation , but their efforts failed . The ruling General People 's Congress party , headed by Yemen 's former President Ali Abdullah Saleh , which holds a majority of seats in parliament , said it will not push for a parliament vote to accept the resignation of Hadi . `` Hadi is the President of Yemen , since his resignation has yet to officially reach parliament . Yemen is still led by a constitutional elected president , '' said Abdul Aziz Jubari , the secretary general of the independent Justice and Building Party . Houthis are Shiite Muslims who have long felt marginalized in the majority Sunni Muslim country . They had been at war with the central government for more than a decade , but their entry into Sanaa in September brought things to a head , sparking battles that left than 300 people dead before a ceasefire was agreed to that month . Houthis then pressured Hadi to step down last month after he refused to agree to certain political demands . The Houthis ' takeover of Sanaa stunned governments of Western nations , which pulled out diplomatic staff this month . As part of an investigation into Hadi 's escape , Houthis on Saturday arrested dozens of their own security personnel who were responsible for watching him , a senior Houthi official said . Houthis arrested two people connected to Hadi -- his media secretary Yahya Al Arassi and his private physician -- after his escape , one of Hadi 's advisers said . A senior official with a Sunni political party opposed to the Houthi takeover said that he backs Hadi 's claim to the presidency . `` Hadi 's withdrawal ( of his resignation ) would save the country and end the Houthi oppression of the Yemeni people , '' said Mohammed Al-Sabri , senior official of the Nasserite party . There already had been resistance to the Houthis ' attempted takeover of national government institutions from different groups in Yemen , particularly in the South , where there 's a long-running secessionist movement . Also opposed to the Houthis is the Sunni terror group al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula , which exerts influence over many rural areas across the country . AQAP vowed to attack Houthi loyalists nationwide last year . Yemen 's political turmoil could have an impact on the United States ' fight against AQAP . The United States has long had a relationship with Yemen 's leaders , working with them to target AQAP militants . It 's not clear what the Houthis ' takeover of Sanaa means for U.S. anti-terrorism efforts , but the drone program there still appears to be active . A U.S. drone strike killed senior AQAP cleric Harith bin Ghazi al-Nadhari and three other people in Shabwa province on January 31 . CNN 's Jason Hanna , Ed Payne , Ben Brumfield and Greg Botelho contributed to this report .
President 's nephew kidnapped by Houthi rebels , officials say . Protesters turn out in support of Yemeni President , Rabu Mansour ##i . He says he 's still alive after release from house arrest .