ADEN, Yemen, Aug 12 (NNN-SABA) – Yemen’s President, Abdu-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, on Sunday, held a meeting with Saudi King, Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud one day after forces of the Southern Transitional Council (STC) seized the port city of Aden.
According to a statement, “King Salman affirmed that he stands by the side of Yemen and rejects whatever threatens Yemen’s unity and social fabric, mainly the acts of the separatist council.”
A number of senior Saudi officials, including the interior minister, attended the meeting that was held in Mecca, said the statement.
President Hadi expressed his appreciation of the Saudi support to Yemen, by rejecting the coup against the state institutions.
On Saturday, the Saudi-led coalition demanded an immediate cease-fire in Aden and warned of military step against violators, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
The coalition demanded the military groups in Aden to withdraw from areas they occupied in recent days and keep away from government and private property.
Earlier in the day, the Saudi-led coalition launched an air strike on a military site belonging to the forces of the STC that seized all government military bases, including the presidential palace.
The Saudi-backed Yemeni government accused the STC of staging a coup against the country’s constitutional legitimacy, with direct support from a regional power.
The Yemeni government held the STC and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a key partner of the Saudi-led coalition, fully responsible for the consequences of the coup against the authorities in Aden.
The southern port city of Aden is almost entirely under the control of the STC forces, that are also allied to the Saudi-led coalition in the fighting against the Houthis.
Aden’s fighting started, when senior leaders of the STC accused the Saudi-backed Yemeni government of “backing Islamists and leaking information to the Iran-backed Houthis” who targeted an army base in Aden last week, killing scores of soldiers, including their commanders.
The United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator in Yemen, Lise Grande, said that, “scores of civilians have been killed and wounded since Aug 8, when fighting broke out in Aden. Preliminary reports indicate that as many as 40 people have been killed and 260 injured.”– NNN-SABA
