Aden, Asharq Al-Awsat—A group of Muslim scholars from Yemen has signed an honor code aimed at putting differences aside and closing ranks to fight the Houthi rebels, Asharq Al-Awsat has learned.

Ibrahim Al-Zaid, an adviser to the Saudi Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Endowments, Call, and Guidance, said the honor code is the outcome of a series of meetings between Yemeni and Saudi religious clerics held under the ministry’s auspices in Riyadh over the past six months.

The honor code requires, among other things, that signatories are obligated to preserve national unity and to unify positions in the fight against the Houthi rebels who control large parts of Yemen, including the capital, Sana’a.

Full details of the honor code are expected to be released in the next few days, Zaid said.

Among the recommendations made by the scholars is spreading awareness among the Yemeni people about the dangers of the Houthi coup against the internationally recognized government of President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi.

A coalition of Shi’ite rebels and followers of former ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh seized large parts of Yemen, including Sana’a, in September last year, prompting President Hadi to flee to the southern city of Aden and then to Saudi Arabia.

Meanwhile, Yemen’s President Hadi vowed on Wednesday to liberate Sana’a from the Iran-allied rebels, one day after he returned to Aden from exile in Riyadh.

“We are in Aden against the will of those who swore we will not return to it. And tomorrow we will be in Sana’a,” Hadi said in a speech on the occasion of the Muslim festival of Eid Al-Adha.

A Saudi-led coalition of ten Arab states has been bombing the Houthi group in Yemen since late March in the aim of restoring President Hadi to power.

Ibrahim Al-Qurashi contributed additional reporting from Mina, Saudi Arabia.