Arab Coalition for Yemen: Disband Iran-backed Houthis Fighting Force

The coalition of Arab states assembled to rescue Yemen from control of the Iranian-backed Shiite Houthis has declared that any peace arrangement must include the disbanding of the Houthi fighting force. The declaration was in response to feelers about a ceasefire coming from the Houthis. The coalition of Arab states backing Yemen’s President Abd Rabbou Mansour Hadi is led by Saudi Arabia, principal rival of Houthi-patron Iran. During the course of the fighting which began in 2014 when the Houthis swept down from the mountains and overran the capital Sana’a, sending Hadi and his government first to Aden in the south and then into exile. More than 10,000 deaths have resulted from the fighting. The Saudis have ruled out any settlement that allows the Houthis to maintain a fighting force in Yemen.