Hadi thanks UAE for its help
Yemen president praises his talks with Crown Prince
RIYADH // Yemeni president Abdrabu Mansur Hadi has commended the UAE’s contributions to his country. Mr Hadi said his meeting with Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, in his recent visit to the UAE “widened the horizons of the distinguished relations between the two countries”. He was visited on Sunday at his residence by Salem Al Ghafli, the Ambassador to Yemen. Mr Hadi told him that the people of Yemen would not forget the stance of the Saudi Arabian-led coalition of Arab countries and its support for his country’s legitimacy.
The coalition, in which the UAE plays a key role, is conducting a military campaign against Houthi rebels and their allies who have overrun the Yemeni capital and large areas of the country, as well as providing assistance to civilians affected by the conflict.
Jets from the coalition targeted rebel Houthi positions in the Yemeni port of Hodeida early yesterday, destroying cranes and warehouses.
And in Cairo, the Arab League condemned the occupation of the UAE Embassy in Sanaa by Houthi rebels.
The item was added to the agenda of an extraordinary meeting called to discuss the situation in Libya at the request of the UAE’s deputy permanent representative to the bloc, Khalifa Al Tunaiji.
Mr Al Tunaiji referred to a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in which it called for the rebels’ immediate exit from the embassy and its return to embassy staff, adding that the UAE retained the right to bring perpetrators of this attack to justice.
He said the occupation of the embassy would not deter the UAE’s support for restoring stability to Yemen.
Representatives at the meeting denounced the attack on the embassy and warned about dangers posed by ISIL, especially in Libya, and called for concerted efforts to tackle it.
In Yemen, there were clashes in the third city of Taez overnight from Monday to yesterday as local groups opposed to the Houthis tried to consolidate recent advances to take the city.
The Houthis and allied army units loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh have a foothold in Taez and control the northern highlands and Red Sea coastal plain as far south as Ibb, where coalition-backed forces advanced last week. Anti- Houthi groups helped by the Saudi-led coalition have pushed the northern militia out of some southern provinces since late last month, but while that has allowed aid to reach Aden in the south, the humanitarian crisis elsewhere remains critical.
The International Committee of the Red Cross yesterday said it was “extremely concerned” by a growing number of corpses being abandoned in the country’s war zones.
“With the escalation of the fighting, more casualties are being left behind owing to the increased danger associated with retrieving the wounded and the dead,” said Nourane Houas, head of the ICRC’s protection department in Yemen.
“International humanitari- an law requires that bodies be treated properly and with respect,” the ICRC said.
Anti- Houthi forces suffered their first serious setback after a series of advances yesterday when rebels ambushed and surrounded fighters advancing in the south, setting off a battle that killed 80 – 65 loyalists and 15 Houthis.
Officials said the fighting took place near the Aqaba Tara area as anti- rebel forces sought to advance from Abyan into Bayda province.
The rebels knocked out eight armoured vehicles and four tanks, which were left burning, the officials said.