Date: Wed, 25 Mar 2015 19:05:01 -0600
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2015/03/saudi-ambassador-announces-military-operation-yemen-150325234138956.html
Saudi Arabia and a coalition of regional allies have launched a military
operation in Yemen against the Houthi rebels, who drove out the US-backed
Yemeni president.
Adel al-Jubair said on Wednesday that a coalition consisting of 10
countries, including the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), had begun
airstrikes at 7pm Eastern time.
The operation is to defend and support the legitimate government of Yemen
Adel al-Jubair, Saudi ambassador to US
"The operation is to defend and support the legitimate government of Yemen
and prevent the radical Houthi movement from taking over the country,"
Jubair told reporters in Washington.
The airstrikes have targeted the presidential palace and the police and
special forces headquarters in the capital, Sanaa, an Al Jazeera
correspondent said.
Separately, a statement issued in Riyadh in the name of Saudi Arabia,
Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates - the GCC countries
without Yemen's neighbour Oman - said they had been asked for help by
President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi's embattled government.
Al-Jubeir said that for the moment the action was confined to airstrikes on
various targets around Yemen, but that other military assets were being
mobilised and that the coalition "would do whatever it takes".
*Proxy war*
The ambassador said he would not go into detail about the support being
provided by Saudi Arabia's allies, but added "we consulted very closely
with many of our allies and in particular with the United States".
The Saudi ambassador said that the Houthis controlled ballistic and heavy
weaponry, and could take control of the country's air force.
Yemen has been gripped by growing turmoil since Shia Houthi rebels launched
a power takeover in the Yemeni capital last month.
They have advanced to the southern port city of Aden, where Hadi was based
after fleeing from house arrest in Sanaa.
The strife has raised fears Yemen could be torn apart by a proxy war
between Shia Iran, accused of backing the rebels - and Sunni-ruled Saudi
Arabia, which supports Hadi.
Yemen's acting foreign minister Riyadh Yaseen warned on Wednesday that the
fall of Aden would mean the "start of civil war" as he drummed up Arab
military support for Hadi, who was taken to a safe haven "within Aden" as
the rebels closed in.
Ibrahim I. Suliman.
Cyber Adal press & publishing
(image/jpeg attachment: 5f70a8ae506d43f7892603ba07162e5e_18.jpg)