Riyadh draws line on Yemen
RIYADH // Saudi Arabia’s King Salman has vowed to prevent other nations from intervening in Yemen, where an Arab coalition has been fighting Iranian-backed Shiite rebels. His comments came at the start of a meeting of his top advisory council yesterday.
There were no major policy changes despite regional upheaval, and King Salman said Saudi Arabia remained committed to diversifying its economy based on the Vision 2030 road map, which includes cutting public spending, reducing reliance on oil revenue and boosting employment in the private sector.
Saudi Arabia and its main regional rival Iran support opposing sides in the wars in Yemen and Syria.
Since March last year, Saudi Arabia has led a coalition that includes the UAE in a military operation in support of the internationally-recognised government of Yemeni president Abdrabu Mansur Hadi against the Houthi rebels. Yesterday, news website Aden Al Ghad reported that 11 headless bodies had been dumped in a nature reserve in the southern Yemeni port city of Aden.
The website quoted a security source in the city as saying that the male remains were found on Tuesday in the Al Hiswa reserve, west of Aden.
It was not clear who killed the men and why, but Aden Al Ghad said the condition of the bodies suggested they had been dumped there more than a month ago.
Yemen’s second-largest city has been suffering from lawlessness, as armed groups including ISIL and Al Qaeda continue to maintain influence nearly 18 months after supporters of Mr Hadi, backed by coalition troops, drove the Iran-aligned Houthis out. Mr Hadi’s government is struggling to restore security to the city of one million.
The southern port city is under the control of Mr Hadi’s government in exile in Saudi Arabia.
Last Saturday, a suicide bomber killed 50 soldiers when he blew himself up at a military base in the city in the latest in a series of attacks claimed by ISIL.
At least 10,000 people have been killed in the conflict, which has unleashed a humanitarian crisis on the impoverished country.