Before the death of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia signaled a day of unprecedented change on the Arabian Peninsula, this was the biggest story out of the Mideast:  Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi resigned, days after Shiite rebels captured the presidential palace and surrounded his home.

The move potentially deprives the US and the West of a key ally against Islamic State (IS) and other terrorist groups.  Hadi is a former general who cooperated with American anti-terror measures, including drone strikes against militants in his own country.  That angered not only the Shiite Houthi rebels who took control of the capital Sanaa this week, but also their rival Sunni al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).

“The Houthis took power by force.  Hadi is a legitimate president and was elected by more than 6 million Yemenis. Hadi tried to bring the political forces together,” said Ahmed al-Fatesh, a hotel security supervisor quoted by the Reuters news agency, who watched this whole thing go down in Sanaa.  Hadi’s legitimacy was also the policy of the US and United Nations, but that is no more.

"While the Embassy remains open and is continuing to operate, we may continue to re-align resources based on the situation on the ground," said a US State Department official, acknowledging that it is pulling non-essential staff and family members out of the increasingly chaotic Yemeni capital.

A day ago, the Houthis were talking about pulling out of key areas of Sanaa.  Now, they are proposing forming a ruling council.