Yemen President takes refuge in Saudi Arabia as new air strikes hit rebels

YEMEN’S President has reappeared in Saudi Arabia after fleeing his country, as a coalition led by the kingdom launched new air strikes against the Houthi rebels who forced him out.

Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi fled the city of Aden by sea on Wednesday as the Houthis closed in. Pictures showed him being welcomed to capital Riyadh yesterday evening by Saudi defence minister Prince Mohammad bin Salman.

Saudi officials said he would travel to an Arab league summit in Egypt tomorrow as Yemen’s “legitimate” leader. Today its capital, Sanaa, was rocked by more explosions as the bombing campaign continued.

Officials in Yemen said Saada, the Shia Houthis’ northern stronghold, was also targeted, as were army camps loyal to ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh, whose forces are backing the Houthis.

Media reports said at least 18 civilians died in Sanaa during the first day of air strikes, including six children, and 18 were killed in clashes between rebels and Hadi loyalists.

Yemen is being dragged into a wider sectarian conflict. Saudi Arabia is leading a coalition of Sunni Muslim states who accuse Iran’s Shia regime of using the Houthis as a tool to boost its power. It says several nations are ready to join a ground invasion. In the air assault, codenamed Operation Decisive Storm, Riyadh deployed some 100 fighter jets, 150,000 soldiers and other navy units, Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya TV reported.

Also involved were aircraft from the UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Jordan, Morocco, Sudan and Egypt. The White House said Barack Obama had authorised logistical and intelligence support for the strikes, but that the US was not joining direct military action.

Iran denies aiding the rebels and condemned the bombing campaign, calling it a “dangerous step.” Rebel leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi has accused the US Saudi Arabia and Israel of launching a “criminal, unjust, brutal and sinful” campaign aimed at invading and occupying Yemen.