Survivors of the Shi’ite Houthi milita stand next to a hole in the wall left by a bomb blast targeting their base in Sana'a, Yemen, on January 5, 2015. (EPA/Yahya Arhab)

Sana’a, Asharq Al-Awsat—Yemen’s embattled President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi sent a delegation of advisers to meet with Houthi leader Abdul Malik Al-Houthi on Tuesday to discuss the deteriorating security situation in the country.

The Yemeni presidential advisers are meeting with the Shi’ite militia leader in Saada province—a Houthi stronghold—to negotiate issues relating to the Peace and Partnership agreement that was signed last September.

Diplomatic sources, speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat on the condition of anonymity, said the talks will revolve around the deteriorating security situation in the country, Yemen’s draft constitution, and the federalization of the state.

Yemen’s Houthis have, so far, failed to sign off on the blueprint of dividing Yemen into six federal states, one of the outcomes of the Yemeni National Dialogue.

“The blueprint is an attempt to tear up this country and turn it into small and weak cantons that can easily be controlled,” Houthi said in a televised address on Saturday.

“Other countries should deal with Yemen on a basis of respect and non-intervention,” he added.

The move comes as Houthi fighters continue to advance in central and western parts of the country, while a series of retaliatory bombings by Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) targeting Houthis have rocked the Yemeni capital.

Local media on Tuesday reported that five improvised explosive devices exploded in Sana’a’s Old City, killing at least one Houthi fighter and injuring others. An explosion in western Sana’a on Sunday, targeting a Houthi fighter base in the city, had earlier left six people injured.

The escalating unrest in the Yemeni capital comes amid public anger towards the Houthis’ ongoing presence in the city, something that rivals say violates the Peace and Partnership agreement signed with Hadi last year.