Hadi ‘sentenced to death’

A court in the Houthi-controlled Yemeni capital has sentenced internationally recognised president Abdrabu Mansur Hadi and six other senior officials in his government to death for “high treason”. The Saba news agency, which is run by the Iran-backed Houthi rebels, quoted the Sanaa criminal court as having convicted Mr Hadi of “incitement and assistance to the aggressor state of Saudi Arabia and its allies”.

Death sentences were also passed on Saturday on the Yemeni ambassador to the US, Ahmed bin Mubarak, and former foreign minister Riyadh Yassin.

A Saudi-led military coalition, which includes the UAE, is fighting to restore Mr Hadi to power.

Yesterday marked the second anniversary of the coalition’s intervention in the Yemeni war, which began when the Houthis seized Sanaa from Mr Hadi’s government in September 2014.

Tens of thousands of Yemenis protested against the Saudi-led intervention in Sanaa yesterday, in demonstrations organised by the Houthis.