http://www.cbsnews.com/news/saudi-arabia-coalition-yemen-airstrikes-us-kerry-iran-houthi-shiite-rebels/
Saudi-led coalition resumes Yemen strikes
19 Photos
Anti-Houthi fighters of the Southern Popular Resistance use a tank in
Yemen's southern port city of Aden, May 16, 2015. REUTERS
SANAA, Yemen - The Saudi-led coalition resumed airstrikes targeting
Shiite rebels in Yemen on Monday in the southern port city of Aden
with U.S. support, after a five-day truce came to a close following
talks on the war-torn country's future that were boycotted by the
rebels.
Coalition airstrikes hit rebel positions and tanks in several
neighborhoods of Aden after the cease-fire expired at 11 p.m. on
Sunday, Yemeni security officials said, speaking on condition of
anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
Later in the day there was cross-border fire along the two countries'
shared frontier in northern Yemen.
Speaking Monday in Seoul, South Korea, Secretary of State John Kerry
defended the Saudis and said they were reacting to rebel violations of
the ceasefire agreement.
"The Houthis were engaged in moving some missile-launching capacity to
the border and under the rules of engagement, it was always understood
that if there were proactive moves by one side or another, then that
would be in violation of the ceasefire agreement," said Kerry,
according to the Reuters news agency.
"Saudi Arabia, under the rules of engagement, took action to take out
those missile launchers," said Kerry. "We continue to support the idea
of extending the humanitarian pause, but I think under the
circumstances at the moment that would be difficult."
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The cease-fire hadn't halted all fighting in Yemen between the Shiite
rebels, known as Houthis, and government forces loyal to exiled
President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi.
Earlier Sunday, hundreds of Yemeni politicians and tribal leaders
gathered in Saudi Arabia for three days of talks on Yemen's future,
but the Houthis refused to participate.
The Shiite rebels reject the main aim of the talks -- the restoration
of Hadi, who fled the country in March in the face of rebel advances
-- and the location of the negotiations in Saudi Arabia, which is
leading an air campaign against the Houthis and their allies.
The Houthis' backers in Iran also made it clear they were uninterested
in any talks based in the Kingdom, with a senior aid to Supreme Leader
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei reportedly saying it could not be considered an
"impartial party" in the crisis.
The absence of the Houthis means the national dialogue is unlikely to
end the violence.
The U.N. envoy to Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, opened the meeting
in Riyadh by calling on all parties to ensure that the shaky
cease-fire leads to a lasting truce.
"I call on all parties to refrain from any action that disturbs the
peace of airports, main areas and the infrastructure of transport,"
said Ahmed, speaking on behalf of U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
18 Photos
Yemen government falls
The President, cabinet and Prime Minister of Yemen resign after rebels
take control of the capital and palace
Since late March, Saudi Arabia has led airstrikes against the Houthis
and allied military units loyal to former President Ali Abdullah
Saleh. The campaign is aimed at weakening the Houthis and restoring
Hadi, who addressed the talks Sunday.
"This conference taking place today is in support of politics and
community, and rejects the coup," Hadi told the gathering.
He urged a return to the political road map through which Saleh
stepped down after more than three decades in power following a 2011
Arab Spring-inspired uprising. Saleh's ouster and the road map was
backed and overseen by the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, which
is headquartered in Saudi Arabia, as well as the U.N. and the U.S.
Among those taking part in the conference are members of Saleh's
former ruling party.
Yemen's conflict has killed more than 1,400 people - many of them
civilians - since March 19, according to the U.N. The country of some
25 million people has endured shortages of food, water, medicine and
electricity as a result of a Saudi-led blockade. Humanitarian
organizations had been scrambling to distribute aid before the end of
the truce.
That includes an Iranian cargo ship carrying humanitarian aid en route
to Yemen. Iranian state television quoted Nasser Charkhsaz, the head
of the Iranian Red Crescent's Relief and Rescue Organization, as
saying that the ship is currently sailing in international waters near
Oman's Salalah port and will arrive at the Bab el-Mandeb strait
between Yemen and Djibouti and Eritrea in two days.
According to the report, the ship is scheduled to reach Yemen's port
city of Hodeida by Thursday if plans go smoothly.
Western countries accuse Shiite power Iran of backing the Houthi
rebels, something the Islamic Republic and the rebels deny.
Meanwhile, a suspected U.S. drone strike hit a car carrying a group of
people believed to be al Qaeda fighters, Yemeni security officials
said. The strike was in Shabwa province, where the extremist group has
sent reinforcements. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity
because they were not authorized to speak to reporters.
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Press contributed to this report.
Received on Mon May 18 2015 - 12:15:09 EDT