Yemen’s Houthis hold body of slain ex-president: Leader

By Ali Owaida

MARIB, Yemen (AA) – Yemen’s Houthi group is holding the body of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, who was shot dead in the capital Sanaa on Monday, according to a Houthi leader.

“Our security forces are holding Saleh’s body and will definitely hand it over to his family,” Mohamed al-Bakhiti told Anadolu Agency on Tuesday.

On Monday, Houthi militiamen executed Saleh -- who had until recently been considered one of the group’s primary allies -- after waylaying his motorcade outside the capital.

His murder came after days of deadly fighting between Houthi rebels and his loyalists across the capital, which they jointly overran in 2014.

“No information is available about the arrest of any of Saleh’s sons,” al-Bakhiti said, when asked about reports on the arrest of a number of the former president’s sons.

Meanwhile, Hussein al-Azzi, a Houthi leader, denied reports speaking about the killing of Assistant Secretary-General of Saleh’s General People's Congress (GPC) Yasser Al-Awadi.

“Al-Awadi will always remain with the homeland,” he said on Twitter, in an implicit reference for his loyalty to the Houthis.

“Al-Awadi is far greater than being part of the militias of treachery," he said, in reference to loyalists of the slain former president.

A GPC source earlier said that al-Awadi had been shot dead by Houthi militiamen in Sanaa on Monday.

Yemen has remained dogged by violence since 2014, when the Houthis and Saleh loyalists overran much of the country, including the capital.

The conflict escalated in 2015 when Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies launched a devastating air campaign aimed at rolling back Houthi gains in Yemen.