Yemen’s al-Alimi calls for mobilisation against Houthis
The Presidential Leadership Council head urged Yemenis to join government forces and offered amnesty to Houthi fighters who defect.
Rashid al-Alimi, head of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council, has called for a general mobilisation against Houthi forces, urging Yemenis to rally behind the country’s armed and security forces.
In a speech on Friday, al-Alimi said Houthi fighters who defect to the government side would be pardoned under an upcoming general amnesty. The report did not detail the offer’s terms.
France 24 International reported the appeal came amid renewed Houthi attacks on government forces and Saudi Arabia. It said the Houthis had taken control of Yemen’s Red Sea coast, a claim not independently corroborated in the supplied material.
Al-Alimi leads the Saudi-backed council, whose forces are fighting the Houthis with Saudi air support. Yemen’s civil war began after the Houthis seized Sanaa in 2014; a Saudi-led coalition intervened the following year.
The Houthis control much of northern Yemen, including its most populated areas, while the government has been based in Aden, its self-proclaimed temporary capital, according to France 24.
