Shiite Huthi militiamen have emerged as a major force in Yemen after sweeping south from the **rthern highlands and overrunning the capital in September. Zaidis are the majority in Yemen's **rthern provinces bordering Sunni powerhouse Saudi Arabia, and the Huthis face allegations of support from Shiite-dominated Iran. During protests, Huthi supporters chant Iran's famous Islamic revolutionary slogan "Death to America! Death to Israel!" Ali Abdullah Saleh, the former strongman who stepped down in 2012 after an uprising, has also been accused of backing the Huthis. The **rth was a Zaidi imamate until a 1962 coup turned Yemen into a republic ruled by a government considered illegitimate by the Huthis.