Gulf foreign ministers have accused Shi'ite militia in Yemen of attempting to stage a "coup" against President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi, a day after the Huthi fighters seized the presidential palace.
"The states of the Gulf Cooperation Council consider what happened in Sanaa on Tuesday... a coup against the legitimate authority," the ministers said in a statement following an emergency meeting in Riyadh on Wednesday.
The Sunni-dominated GCC also expressed support for the "constitutionally legitimate authority" of Hadi, and rejected "all measures aimed at imposing change by force".
It warned that Gulf states "would take all measures necessary to protect their security, stability and vital interests in Yemen."
The ministers offered to send a GCC envoy to Yemen for mediation if the Huthis withdrew from the presidential palace and other government buildings and freed Hadi's abducted chief of staff Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak.
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They also called for the withdrawal of militiamen around Hadi's residence in western Sanaa, and said current developments represent "a threat to international peace and security".
The meeting of ministers from Qatar, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Oman was hosted by Saudi Arabia's Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Abdulaziz bin Abdullah.
They left the talks, held at a military airport, without commenting to reporters.
Gulf countries had brokered an accord in November 2011 that eased former president Ali Abdullah Saleh out of office following a year of nationwide protests.
Last December they called for the Huthis to withdraw from Sanaa and other towns they had overrun since September.
Yemen has repeatedly accused Shi'ite-dominated Iran of backing the Huthis.
Non-Arab Iran and the Sunni-ruled Gulf powerhouse Saudi Arabia are rivals for regional influence.
