Houthi rebels in Yemen holding multiple Americans
Houthi rebels in Yemen are holding multiple Americans prisoner - The Washington Post
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The rebel group that has seized power in Yemen has taken at least four U.S. citizens prisoner, according to U.S. officials who said that efforts to secure the Americans’ release have faltered.
One of the prisoners had been cleared for release in recent days only to have that decision reversed by members of the Houthi rebellion that toppled the U.S.-backed government earlier this year and now controls most levers of power in Yemen.
The Americans are believed to be held at a prison in Sanaa, the Yemeni capital, which has been bombed repeatedly as part of an air campaign led by Saudi Arabia aimed at dislodging the Houthis from power. The United States has provided intelligence
support to that operation.
The detention of the Americans has complicated U.S. efforts to navigate the chaotic aftermath of the Houthi takeover, which displaced a government that had cooperated extensively with the United States on drone strikes and other counterterrorism
operations against a dangerous al-Qaeda affiliate in the country.
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Coalition pounds Yemen capital as UN envoy arrives for talks | Zee News
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Sanaa: Saudi-led coalition warplanes pounded rebel positions across Sanaa overnight, only hours after the UN envoy to Yemen arrived in the capital to discuss stalled Geneva peace talks, residents said Saturday.
The escalation came as neighbouring Oman, which enjoys good relations with Tehran and is a member of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) alongside Saudi Arabia, hosted representatives of the Shiite Huthi rebels and delegates from Iran.
Saudi Arabia has been leading an air war that has targeted the Iran-backed rebels in Yemen on a daily basis since March 26, barring a five-day humanitarian ceasefire this month.
Among the latest targets to be struck was a house of ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh in his home town of Sanhan, south of the capital.
The raids came after Saleh said in an interview broadcast late Friday that he had rejected a Saudi offer of "millions of dollars" to oppose the Huthi rebels.
Saleh was forced to resign in early 2012 after waging a bloody crackdown on a year of protests calling for an end to his three decades of iron-fisted rule.
