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Erdogan won't restore Egyptian ties 'until Morsi freed'

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Turkey’s ties with Egypt strained since Abdel Fattah el-Sisi toppled Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi in 2013.

"Mr Morsi is a president elected by 52 percent of the votes. They should give him his freedom," said the Turkish president.

“Mr Morsi is a president elected by 52 percent of the votes. They should give him his freedom,” said the Turkish president.

by Al Jazeera

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish president, says Egypt should free ousted president Mohamed Morsi from prison and lift death sentences against his supporters before Ankara could consider an improvement in relations with Cairo.

Ties between the two former allies have been strained since then Egyptian army chief Abdel Fattah el-Sisi toppled elected president Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood in 2013 after mass protests against his rule.

Egyptian security forces then mounted a fierce crackdown against the Brotherhood, killing hundreds of its supporters as they protested in Cairo, arresting thousands and putting Morsi and other leaders on trial.

“Mr Morsi is a president elected by 52 percent of the votes. They should give him his freedom,” Erdogan was quoted by Turkish newspapers as telling reporters as he returned from an official visit to Iran.

An official from Erdogan’s office confirmed his comments.

Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood has close ties with Turkey’s ruling AK Party, which Erdogan co-founded and which has emerged as one of the fiercest international critics of Morsi’s removal, calling it an “unacceptable coup” by the army.

Erdogan’s recent visit to Saudi Arabia, and his support of a Saudi-led military operation against Houthi rebels in Yemen in which Egyptian warships have taken part, had triggered speculation about a possible thaw in ties between Ankara and Cairo.

Egypt's Morsi sentenced to 20 years in jail

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Cairo court convicts toppled president of ordering the arrest and torture of protesters in 2012 clashes.

Morsi was overthrown and imprisoned by the military in 2013 [EPA]

Morsi was overthrown and imprisoned by the military in 2013 [EPA]

by Al Jazeera

A Cairo court has sentenced former Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi and 12 other defendants to 20 years in prison.

Morsi was convicted on Tuesday of ordering the arrest and torture of protesters in clashes outside the presidential palace in December 2012. The court acquitted the former president of murder charges that could have seen him face the death penalty.

Morsi also faces serious charges in three other cases, including an accusation that he passed intelligence to Qatar.

Mohammed Soudan, a senior member of the Muslim Brotherhood, and an official within its affiliated Freedom and Justice Party, told Al Jazeera that the trial was a “political farce”.

“The verdict is 100 percent a political verdict. Morsi, his advisers and supporters who are accused in this case were victims … police and army officers watched as the opposition attacked the presidential palace,” Soudan said.

“They killed 11 people and nine of them were supporters of Morsi. .. the verdict is a test for the protesters in the street, and also a test for the international community.”

Amnesty International also condemned the trial as a “sham”, and called for the release of Morsi and protesters.

“This verdict shatters any remaining illusion of independence and impartiality in Egypt’s criminal justice system,” Amnesty’s Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui said in a statement released after the verdict.

Egyptian journalist, Yehia Ghanem, told Al Jazeera the Egyptian government was sending a message that it would not tolerate any opposition.

“The whole thing was calculated politically from the start. It sends a message to Egyptians and the rest of the world that there’s no future for any civil rule,” Ghanem said.

Morsi was deposed by his then military chief and Minister of Defence Abdel Fattah el-Sisi after mass protests against his rule in the summer of 2013.

Following the coup, the former president’s supporters launched a series of protests and sit-ins across the country culminating in a crackdown by security forces that left hundreds dead.

In the deadliest incident, at least 817 protesters were killed in Cairo’s Rabaa al-Adawiya Square when security forces opened fire on a sit-in. Human Rights Watch (HRW) said the killings likely amounted to “crimes against humanity”.

Thousands have also been imprisoned, with many supporters of Morsi facing mass trials facing charges of involvement in violence.

At least 1,212 people have been sentenced to death since the start of 2014, including the head of the Muslim Brotherhood, Mohamed Badie.

New Zealand Plotted Hack on China With US's NSA

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Photo of New Zealand prime minister John Key, left, and Chinese premier Li Keqiang in Beijing, March 2014. (Feng Li/AP)

Photo of New Zealand prime minister John Key, left, and Chinese premier Li Keqiang in Beijing, March 2014. (Feng Li/AP)

by Ryan Gallagher and Nicky Hager

New Zealand spies teamed with National Security Agency hackers to break into a data link in the country’s largest city, Auckland, as part of a secret plan to eavesdrop on Chinese diplomats, documents reveal.

The covert operation, reported Saturday by New Zealand’s Herald on Sunday in collaboration with The Intercept, highlights the contrast between New Zealand’s public and secret approaches to its relationship with China, its largest and most important trading partner.

The hacking project suggests that New Zealand’s electronic surveillance agency, Government Communications Security Bureau, or GCSB, may have violated international treaties that prohibit the interception of diplomatic communications.

New Zealand has signed both the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and the 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, international treaties that protect the “inviolability” of diplomatic correspondance. The country’s prime minister, John Key, said in a recent speech on security that New Zealand had an obligation to support the rule of law internationally, and was “known for its integrity, reliability and independence.”

Last year, Key said that New Zealand’s relationship with China, worth an estimated $15 billion in annual two-way trade, had “never been stronger.” The relationship was not just about “purely trading,” he said, “it is so much broader and much deeper than that.”

In 2013, Key described a meeting with top Chinese officials in Beijing as “extremely warm” and told of how he was viewed as a “real friend” by the country’s premier, Li Keqiang.

At the same time, as minister in charge of the GCSB, Key was overseeing spying against China – which included the top-secret planned operation in Auckland, aimed at the Chinese consulate.

The hacking project is outlined in documents obtained by The Interceptfrom NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden.

A secret report called “NSA activities in progress 2013,” includes an itemtitled “New Zealand: Joint effort to exploit Chinese MFA [Ministry of Foreign Affairs] link.” The operation, according to another NSA document, had “identified an MFA data link between the Chinese consulate and Chinese Visa Office in Auckland,” two buildings about a five-minute walk apart on the city’s busy Great South Road.

The document added that the New Zealand agency was “providing additional technical data” on the data link to the NSA’s Tailored Access Operations, a powerful unit that hacks into computer systems and networks to intercept communications. The agencies had “verbally agreed to move forward with a cooperative passive and active effort against this link,” it said.

Passive surveillance refers to a method of eavesdropping on communications that intercepts them as they are flowing over Internet cables, between satellites, or across phone networks. Active surveillance is a more aggressive tactic that involves hacking into computers; in the case of the Auckland operation, active surveillance could have involved planting spyware in the Chinese government computers or routers connected via the consulate data link.

The documents do not reveal whether the operation was successfully completed, due to the timeframe that the records cover. In May 2013, Snowden left his Hawaii-based intelligence job and flew to Hong Kong carrying the cache of secret files. In April 2013, shortly before Snowden’s departure, “formal coordination” on the hacking plan had begun between the NSA and its New Zealand counterpart, according to the documents.

More New Zealand operations targeting China appear to have been ongoing at that time. In another April 2013 NSA document describing the agency’s relationship with New Zealand spies, under the heading “What partner provides to NSA,” the first item on the list is “collection on China.” New Zealand’s GCSB surveillance agency “continues to be especially helpful in its ability to provide NSA ready access to areas and countries that are difficult for the United States to access,” the report said.

China intelligence is handled inside the New Zealand agency by a special section that focuses on economic analysis. According to sources with knowledge of the agency’s operations, its economic section, known as the “IBE,” specialised in Japanese diplomatic communications from 1981 until the late 2000s. In recent years its focus has shifted to intercepted Chinese communications, the sources say.

In response to the revelations, a spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in New Zealand told the Herald on Sunday that the country was “concerned” about the spying. “We attach great importance to the cyber security issue,” the spokesman said, adding that “China proposes to settle disputes through dialogue and formulate codes to regulate cyber space behaviors that are acceptable to all sides.”

China itself is known to be a major perpetrator of espionage on the global stage, and it has been repeatedly accused by the U.S. government of hacking into American computer networks. Last year, China was linked to an apparent intelligence-gathering hack on a powerful New Zealand supercomputer used to conduct weather and climate research.

But the Snowden documents have shown that countries in the so-called “Five Eyes” surveillance alliance – which includes New Zealand, the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia – are also heavily involved in conducting aggressive spying and hacking operations across the world.

Previous revelations have detailed how agencies in the alliance have hackedlaw–abiding companies, foreign government computers, and designed technology to attack and destroy infrastructure using cyberwar techniques. Last year, The Intercept revealed how the NSA had developed the capability to deploy millions of malware “implants” to infect computers and steal data on a large scale.

The NSA, the GCSB and the New Zealand prime minister’s office each declined to answer questions about this story.

GCSB’s acting director, Una Jagose, said in an emailed statement that the agency “exists to protect New Zealand and New Zealanders.” She added: “We have a foreign intelligence mandate. We don’t comment on speculation about matters that may or may not be operational. Everything we do is explicitly authorised and subject to independent oversight.”

Yemen: missile site hit by Saudi strike causes huge explosion in Sanaa

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Saudi Arabia and its partners have carried out some 2,300 airstrikes on Houthi targets across Yemen since launching the air campaign more than three weeks ago. (AFP/File)

Saudi Arabia and its partners have carried out some 2,300 airstrikes on Houthi targets across Yemen since launching the air campaign more than three weeks ago. (AFP/File)

by Al Bawaba

One of the largest Yemen explosions in weeks occurred in the capital Sanaa Monday afternoon when the Saudi airstrike hit a Scud missile base and blew out windows in surrounding homes, residents told Reuters.

The number of casualties caused by the blow was not immediately available, but residents told the news agency the blast was the largest they’d seen from the coalition since it began more than three weeks ago. Thick smoke rose into the air, and homes around the base were left with shattered windows from the force.

The base is located on the Faj Attan mountain beside Sanaa’s Hadda district, where it shares space with the presidential palace and several embassies. It’s been the site of heavy fire by Saudi-led air campaign, whose forces have targeted it and similar military and airport areas across Yemen since March 25.

Saudi Arabia says it’s carried out some 2,300 airstrikes across the country since then, targeting the Shiite rebel group known as the Houthis, who took over the capital last September and are now allied with Iran.

Egypt sentences 11 men to death over football riot

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Decision over 2012 Port Said riot has been referred to Egypt’s Grand Mufti for approval and the men may also appeal.

A defendant sits in a courtroom cage as a judge issues a verdict in the 2012 case involving violence by soccer fans [AP]

A defendant sits in a courtroom cage as a judge issues a verdict in the 2012 case involving violence by soccer fans [AP]

by Al Jazeera

An Egyptian court has sentenced 11 men to death for their involvement in a 2012 football riot in the city of Port Said in which 73 people died and at least 1,000 were injured.

However, Sunday’s decision still requires the approval of Egypt’s most senior religious authority, the Grand Mufti, and the men can also appeal, a process that may take several years.

“With the agreement of all members, the case will be sent to the Grand Mufti to give his Islamic opinion on the defendants’ fate,” Judge Mohamed al-Saeed Mohamed said, in a court session shown on television.

A later court hearing will be held on May 30.

In Egypt, the Grand Mufti’s decision is not binding but referral is needed in order to impose the death sentence.

In the incident, fans of the winning al-Masry team invaded the pitch seconds after the Port Said match with al-Ahly, Egypt’s top football team.

Most of the 73 people killed were trampled in the crush of the resulting riots or fell from terraces, according to witnesses and health workers.

UN seeks $274 million in Yemen humanitarian appeal

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Money needed to help 7.7 million people in the country over the next three months, UN says.

(AFP/File)

(AFP/File)

by Al Jazeera

The United Nations launched an appeal for almost $275m to aid 7.5 million people in Yemen over the next three months, as fighting intensifies in the south and air strikes continue in 18 of the country’s 22 provinces.

About 150,000 people have been displaced, 50 percent more than the previous UN estimate, the UN humanitarian agency OCHA said on Friday, citing local sources.

The agency said health facilities had reported 767 deaths from March 19 to April 13, almost certainly an underestimate.

“Thousands of families have now fled their homes as a result of the fighting and air strikes,” the UN humanitarian coordinator for Yemen, Johannes Van Der Klaauw, said in a statement. “Ordinary families are struggling to access health care, water, food and fuel – basic requirements for their survival.”

The fighting had destroyed, damaged or disrupted at least five hospitals, 15 schools, Yemen’s three main airports, two bridges, two factories and four mosques, as well as markets, power stations and water and sanitation facilities, OCHA said.

“Public water services covering 1 million people are at serious risk of collapse,” the UN appeal document said. “Hospitals are overwhelmed with casualties, including people who have been direct victims of violence and those suffering severe burns from explosions.”

Even before the current conflict, Yemen was in a large-scale humanitarian crisis, with 15.9 million people – 61 percent of the population – estimated to require some kind of humanitarian aid.

The UN calculates it needs $273.7m to provide what Yemen needs. The largest part – $144.5m – aims to ensure food security for 2.6 million people. Yemen already had 10.5 million people classed as “food insecure” in December 2014. That number has now risen to 12 million and is expected to rise further as the fighting continues.

An estimated 100,000 tonnes of food are needed each month, but current World Food Programme stocks are limited to 37,000 tonnes, the appeal document said.

“Humanitarian food stocks in-country are insufficient to meet growing needs and the dramatic decline in commercial imports is threatening the wider food supply,” it said. “Farmers are missing an entire cropping cycle, which will further reduce food availability.”

Peace talks

Meanwhile, Iran has called for immediate peace talks between the warring parties, as rebels backed by Tehran battle loyalist forces supported by Saudi-led air strikes.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif made the appeal during a telephone call with UN chief Ban Ki-moon on Thursday, the IRNA news agency said.

Iran has proposed a peace plan for Yemen that calls for a ceasefire followed by foreign-mediated talks by all sides.

“Mr Zarif referred to the Iranian four-point plan to end the crisis in Yemen, stressing the importance of an immediate dialogue between the Yemenis and said Iran was ready to help resolve this crisis,” IRNA said.

Ban called Thursday for an immediate ceasefire in Yemen, where a Saudi-led coalition is bombing Houthi Shia rebels fighting forces loyal to President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, who has fled to Saudi Arabia.

Doctors testify at UN over Syria chemical attacks

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Security Council members were shown footage of children dying following a reported chemical weapon attack in March. (AFP/File)

Security Council members were shown footage of children dying following a reported chemical weapon attack in March. (AFP/File)

by Andolu Ajansi

The U.N. Security Council listened Thursday to Syrian doctors who attempted to rescue children affected by alleged chlorine attacks in Idlib province of Syria.

Behind closed doors, Council members were shown footage of children dying following an alleged chemical weapon attack in Sarmin, near Idlib in northern Syria in March.

According to international watchdog Human Rights Watch, more than 200 civilians including 20 civil defense workers were exposed to toxic chemicals in several barrel bomb attacks between March 16 and 31.

In a press conference following the meeting with the doctors, U.S. representative to the U.N. Samantha Power said all members of the Security Council were moved by the footage.

Power called for action against the Syrian regime’s chemical attacks by overcoming division at the fifteen-member council.

A Syrian doctor Mohammed Tenari said most of the dead in the attacks were women and children. “Sounds of helicopters were heard during the attacks and bleach-like odors were felt,” said Tenari.

Another doctor Zaher Sahlul said all members of the council including Russia, China and Venezuela should hold those responsible accountable and called for action from the international community.

“Some representatives at the council burst into tears and what is important is to turn this emotional atmosphere into action,” said Sahlul.

On Friday, the doctors are due to visit Russia’s U.N. delegation in an effort to persuade Moscow not to use its veto against measures to be taken against the Syrian regime.

The Syrian opposition has repeatedly accused the Assad regime of using chemical and toxic weapons against civilians since August 2013, when a single attack reportedly killed more than 1,400 civilians.

The regime denies this accusation, pinning the blame on its adversaries.

The Syrian civil war, which entered its fifth year this month, has claimed more than 220,000 lives so far, according to the UN.

Report: Children killed in shelling of Damascus suburbs

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Syrian Observatory says Zabdean and Eastern Ghouta rocked by violence amid escalation in government air strikes.

A boy evacuates children from a site hit by what activists said was a barrel bomb dropped by warplanes in Aleppo this month [Reuters]

A boy evacuates children from a site hit by what activists said was a barrel bomb dropped by warplanes in Aleppo this month [Reuters]

by Al Jazeera

At least 10 people have been killed according to a monitoring network after Syrian government forces shelled the southeastern suburbs of Damascus, an area that has come under intensive assault by regime jets and artillery in recent days.

A main roundabout in the town of Zabdean was shelled on Thursday, in which at least 10 people, including five children, were killed and nearby homes destroyed, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.

In another suburb of the Syrian capital – Eastern Ghouta – clashes have intensified between government forces and opposition fighters, leaving several people injured.

Al Jazeera could not independently verify the Syrian Observatory’s reports.

Eastern Ghouta has been shelled intensively for the past 10 days, with reports of at least 36 surface-to-surface missiles and dozens of other mortars being used.

Al Jazeera’s Mohamed Jamjoom, reporting from Beirut in neighbouring Lebanon, said there has been an uptick in violence over the past several weeks, especially in Idlib province.

“The city of Idlib became the second provincial capital to fall to the rebels. This was a group coalition which was led by al-Nusra Front. The city fell in the last part of March.

“In the intervening time, there has really been an upswing in the ongoing aerial bombardment by Syrian forces. It is getting bloodier and bloodier by the hour,” he said.

Meanwhile, in Yarmouk, south of Damascus, clashes have escalated between government forces and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group, while government forces shelled the neighbourhoods of the area.

The Syrian Observatory has documented 1,709 air strikes by government warplanes and helicopters across Syria since the beginning of April 2015.

Regime fighter jets have reportedly targeted 725 areas in Damascus and its suburbs, Deraa, Idlib, Aleppo, Homs, Hama, Der Ezzor, Lattakia and al-Hasakah.

At least 984 barrel bombs were dropped from helicopters on the same cities mentioned above in addition to Raqqa, the report said.

The death toll from air strikes has risen to 260 civilians since the beginning of April, which includes 81 children while 1,500 others were injured, the Syrian Observatory said.

Thousands have been displaced due to the attacks and many homes have been damaged or completely destroyed.

In Idlib alone, the Syrian Observatory documented 123 air strikes in the past 36 hours.

At least 38 people have been killed during those air strikes while dozens of others were injured.

The fighting in Syria, which began in 2011, has now killed more than 200,000 people, while nine million have been forced from their homes, according to UN data.

The Syrian Observatory released on Thursday a toll of almost 310,000 Syrians killed since the start of the conflict.

UN Security Council slammed for 'endorsing siege and mass starvation' of Yemenis

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Resolution passed Tuesday imposes arms embargo on Houthis but not the Saudi Arabia-led military coalition bombing and blockading Yemen

United States President Barack Obama chairs a United Nations Security Council meeting at U.N. Headquarters in New York, N.Y., Sept. 24, 2009. (Photo: Pete Souza/White House/Public Domain)

United States President Barack Obama chairs a United Nations Security Council meeting at U.N. Headquarters in New York, N.Y., Sept. 24, 2009. (Photo: Pete Souza/White House/Public Domain)

by Sarah Lazare, Common Dreams

The United Nations Security Council on Tuesday passed a resolution, drafted largely by the gulf countries leading the war on Yemen, imposing an arms embargo on Houthis but not the Saudi Arabia-led military coalition pummeling and blockading the impoverished country.

Analysts warn that the measure amounts to an endorsement of the siege on Yemen, which is cutting off vital supplies of food and medical aid and unleashing a profound humanitarian crisis.

Independent journalist and former Yemen resident Iona Craig raised the alarm on Twitter:

Sanaa-based reporter Adam Baron echoed this concern.

The UNSC resolution, which is legally binding, was approved by the 15 member council, with 14 voting in favor and Russia abstaining.

The language calls for all member states to “take the necessary measures to prevent the direct or indirect supply, sale or transfer” of military equipment and weapons to Houthi forces.

Furthermore, the resolution orders Houthis to immediately cease combat operations and withdraw from territory they have seized.

Russia had lobbied for the language to include text mandating a “humanitarian pause” in the Saudi-led air strikes, which have hit residential areas and civilian infrastructure, including markets, medical facilities, andat least one displaced person’s camp in the country’s north. Since March 26 when the coalition bombings began, at least 364 civilians have been killed and 681 wounded in the country’s conflict, according to the UN’s own estimates.

But instead, the final version of the resolution merely, “Requests the Secretary-General to intensify his efforts in order to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian assistance and evacuation, including the establishment of humanitarian pauses.”

The Saudi-led coalition—which includes the United States, Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Jordan, Egypt, Sudan, and Morocco—has repeatedly blocked aid from getting through to civilian populations in Yemen, leading to public rebuke from aid organizations, including the Red Cross.

Houthis have also used deadly force against civilians, and people across Yemen and the world have charged that the large-scale military campaign, waged by some of the most wealthy and despotic countries in the world, is causing the humanitarian situation to deteriorate exponentially.

Robert Naiman, policy director for Just Foreign Policy, told Common Dreamsthat the UNSC resolution is one-sided. “You would hope the Security Council would take a balanced approach, not just go after the Houthis, who—regardless of what you think of what they’ve done—are clearly an internal party to the conflict,” said Naiman.

Meanwhile, people across Yemen and the world are turning to social media to call for an end to the fighting, as part of the online campaign Kefaya War, which means “Enough War” in Arabic:

Twitter.com/KefayaWar

UN: Majority of Yemen war victims are civilians

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Deputy secretary-general for human rights says both Saudi-led coalition and Houthi rebels to blame for civilian deaths.

(AFP/File)

(AFP/File)

by Al Jazeera

Aid agencies have warned of a growing humanitarian crisis in Yemen as the UN says the majority of people killed in the conflict are civilians, blaming both the Saudi-led coalition and Houthi rebels.

“Over 600 people [have been] killed [in the conflict], but more than half of them are civilians. This is particularly concerning,” Ivan Simonovic, UN’s deputy secretary-general for human rights, told Al Jazeera on Monday.

“So far we can say with confidence that both sides have not exercised sufficient restraint. There were some unselective targeting and we are very concerned about that.”

Simonovic said it was essential not to allow “the acute crisis evolve into a chronic one”.

“There is still a window of opportunity when fighting and killing in Yemen could be stopped,” he said.

Nine Arab countries led by Saudi Arabia launched air strikes on Shia rebels on March 26 after the rebels stormed the presidential palace in the capital Sanaa and put President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi under house arrest, demanding political reforms.

The rebels, known as Houthis, swept into Sanaa in September and have since tried to expand their control across the country. They are fighting army units loyal to Hadi, who fled to Saudi Arabia, and are backed by security forces supporting Ali Abdullah Saleh, Yemen’s former president.

The coalition is supported by the United States, which has supplied arms and has also carried out drone attacks against al-Qaeda fighters in Yemen.

Overnight on Monday, Yemen’s main southern city of Aden saw the heaviest fighting, with medics and military forces saying at least 30 people were killed in clashes between rebels and supporters of Hadi.

Humanitarian groups have struggled to bring aid into the country and said on Monday the situation in Aden was deteriorating rapidly.

“Shops are closed. We have a problem of food,” said Marie-Elisabeth Ingres, the Yemen representative of Doctors without Borders (MSF).

Metaz al-Maisuri, an activist living in Aden, said basic services had stopped and there had been a “mass exodus” of civilians from the city.

“Schools, universities and all public and private facilities have been shut due” to the violence, he told the AFP news agency. “Residents’ lives have become very difficult and complicated… They can no longer obtain the food they need,” he said.

“We are unable to leave our houses to buy what we need because of the Houthi snipers,” said Adwaa Mubarak, a 48-year-old woman in Aden.

‘Boots on the ground needed’

Afzal Ashraf, a consultant fellow at the London-based Royal United Services Institute, told Al Jazeera that the Saudi-led coalition faced a dilemma over getting their military on the ground as air strikes alone would not achieve the coalition’s aims.

“The situation is very confused not just for us, observers, but also for people on the ground. And it will remain that way until we get ground forces in,” said Ashraf.

“This is the problem that the Saudi-led coalition is facing. They want to avoid ground forces, but they can’t make any meaningful change on the ground using air strikes alone.”

Meanwhile, in the Saudi capital Riyadh, Yemen’s Prime Minister Khaled Bahah was sworn in as vice president at the country’s embassy in front of exiled Hadi, a day after his appointment, in a move welcomed by Yemen’s Gulf neighbours.

Mohammed Abdel Salam, a Houthi spokesman, denounced the appointment of Bahah in televised comments on a pro-Houthi channel. He said that the Houthi group will not recognise decisions promulgated by Hadi and that anything pertaining to the country’s politics should be decided upon through dialogue within the country.

UN special envoy for Yemen Jamal Benomar has been urging the parties to come to a negotiated settlement. Saleh has also called for a UN-sponsored dialogue.

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