Former strongman ‘was martyred in the defense of the republic’
SANAA: Witnesses said on Monday that fighting has subsided in Sanaa hours after the announcement of the death of Yemen’s former President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
Saleh’s political party, the General People’s Congress (GPC), confirmed the death of the 75-yearold, blaming the rebels.
“He was martyred in the defense of the republic,” said Faiqa Al-Sayyid, a party leader.
Sayyid said Saleh and other top party officials had came under Houthi gunfire as they fled Sanaa.
A military source said the Houthis stopped their four-car convoy about 40 km south of Sanaa and shot dead Saleh and two other senior GPC officials.
Residents said that they saw fighters hand themselves in and others withdraw from their positions. Al-Masirah TV network, run by the Houthi rebels, also showed footage of what appeared to be Saleh’s forces handing themselves in.
The channel had earlier carried a broadcast in which the Houthis’ leader, Abdul-Malek Al-Houthi, said his forces had killed Saleh for “treason.”
In other areas like Fag Attan, Saleh’s forces are still surrounded by Houthis. It was not immediately clear if the fighting would resume again in the morning.
The Houthis have also seized the homes of Saleh and some of his family members in a southern district of Sanaa — the so-called Political District — which witnessed some of the heaviest clashes.
The Interior Ministry, affiliated with the Houthis, said that Houthiallied security forces are carrying out raids and arrests at the homes of Saleh’s associates and supporters.
Al-Houthi, in a lengthy speech aired on Al-Masirah TV network, said that he knew about Saleh’s communication with the Arab coalition and his efforts to turn against the Houthis.
He added that he had sent several warnings to Saleh. “We have notified the leader of the traitor and criminal militias to retract, be wise, to stop his militias from continuing committing crimes,” he said.
“Today is the day of the fall of the conspiracy of betrayal and treason. It’s a dark day for the forces of the coalition.”
He stressed that the Houthis have no enmity toward the General People’s Congress, which was Yemen’s ruling party under Saleh but is now divided.
Meanwhile, the UN’s human rights chief has appointed experts from Tunisia, Britain and Australia to a panel tasked with monitoring and reporting on rights abuses in Yemen.
The UN Human Rights Council in September approved the creation of the group of “eminent international and regional experts.”
The high commissioner for human rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al-Hussein, said on Monday it will be chaired by Kamel Jendoubi of Tunisia and will include Britain’s Charles Garraway and Melissa Parke of Australia.