'Houthi bandits sold Yemen and must be removed,' ex-president Saleh said before his death
Updated 15 June 2018
Arab News
LONDON: In a speech thought to be his last prior to his assassination, the late Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh asked Yemeni people to rise against the Houthi whom he said have sold their nation and killed women children and elderly.
“Houthi militia have been liquidating Yemeni people, and stealing their fortune and the fortune of the country, they have become rich owning real estate and big cars after entering Sana’a bare foot,” Saleh said in a speech while his house was being bombed.
The late president of Yemen added that “the Yemeni people have suffered 3 years of hardship, extremism and sectarianism, during which Houthi militia inserted by force their allies in ministries and government departments as if claiming that only their followers are infallible based on a foreign ideology that is now ours,” he said
In that recording, the ex-president of Yemen, for four decades, called on Yemenis to rise in order to protect democracy and the freedom of all Yemenis.
Lebanon says France to host conference to support army
Lebanon said Wednesday that a conference in support of the country’s army as it seeks to disarm militant group Hezbollah would take place in Paris on March 5
Updated 3 sec ago
AFP
BEIRUT: Lebanon said Wednesday that a conference in support of the country’s army as it seeks to disarm militant group Hezbollah would take place in Paris on March 5. The announcement follows recent promises of support to the military, which lacks funds, equipment and technical expertise. Presidency spokeswoman Najat Charafeddine said President Joseph Aoun met French envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian, Saudi envoy Yazid bin Farhan and ambassadors including from the US, Egypt and Qatar, discussing preparations for “a conference to support the Lebanese army and internal security forces.” “It was decided to hold the conference in Paris on March 5, to be opened by French President Emmanuel Macron,” she said at the presidential palace. Under US pressure and fearing expanded Israeli strikes, Lebanon has committed to disarming the Iran-backed Hezbollah, which was badly weakened in more than a year of hostilities with Israel that largely ended in late 2024. Last week, Lebanon’s army said it had completed the first phase of its plan to disarm the group, covering the area south of the Litani river, around 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the Israeli border. A plan for the disarmament north of the Litani is to be presented to cabinet next month. Israel, which accuses Hezbollah or rearming, has criticized the army’s progress as insufficient, while Hezbollah has rejected calls to surrender its weapons. Lebanon’s army has dismantled tunnels and other military infrastructure belonging to Hezbollah near the Israeli border in recent months, seizing weapons and ammunition, despite its limited capacities. Despite the ceasefire, Israel has kept up regular strikes on Lebanon, usually saying it is targeting Hezbollah, and has maintained troops in five south Lebanon areas it deems strategic. Last month, talks with international envoys in Paris touched on the Lebanese army’s needs, while its chief agreed to document its progress in disarming Hezbollah.
