Yemen's President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi sits during a meeting with government officials in Aden on Tuesday.

Reuters/Dubai

Yemeni Prime Minister Khaled Bahah rejected a cabinet reshuffle ordered on Tuesday by President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, a senior government official said, another sign of the deepening rift between the two leaders.

Hadi said earlier on Tuesday he was replacing five ministers, including acting foreign minister Reyad Yassin Abdulla, according to a decree carried by the Hadi-run state Saba news agency www.sabanew.net.

The Saudi-backed Hadi, who returned to the southern city of Aden last month after he was driven into exile by Houthi fighters in March, is trying to restore his authority in areas recaptured by his supporters from the Iran-allied Houthis.

"A personal announcement will be issued rejecting the ministerial changes because they are illegitimate," the source told Reuters, adding that Hadi had made the changes without consulting Bahah, who is also the vice president.

Officials from Hadi's office could not immediately be reached for a comment.

The dispute could further complicate efforts by a Saudi-led military coalition, which has been fighting the Houthis for the last eight months, to restore Hadi to power.

Differences between Hadi and Bahah have deepened since the president appointed minister of health Abdullah as acting foreign minister in March without consulting the prime minister, officials close to Bahah said.

They said Bahah had since refused to recognise the appointment and did not allow Abdulla to attend government meetings.

Aides close to Bahah also accuse Hadi of trying to scuttle any settlement of the crisis, fearing a solution would speed up his departure from the presidency.

Hadi was elected for an interim period under a Gulf power transfer deal that had eased his predecessor, Ali Abdullah Saleh, out of office following months of protests against his 33 years in office.

Hadi's supporters accuse Bahah of inefficiency and failure to deliver on reconstruction of Aden after the Houthis were driven out.

In his decree, Hadi appointed Abdel-Malek al-Mekhlafi, a member of the country's upper house the Shura Council and the chief government negotiator with the Houthis, to be the new foreign minister.

General Hassan Mohammed Jbari was appointed interior minister and Mohammed Qabati as information minister.

The UN says that at least 5,700 people, nearly half of them civilians, have been killed since the Saudi-led alliance launched air strikes in March against the Houthis and their allies.