US, British ‘defensive’ strikes won’t end Huthi attacks: Yemen leader

RIYADH: Yemen’s internationally recognised government Saturday said “defensive” US and British strikes on the Huthi rebels aren’t enough and called for US and Saudi support to “eliminate” their ability to stage attacks on Red Sea shipping.

“Defensive operations are not the solution,” Rashad al-Alimi, head of the Saudi-backed Presidential Leadership Council (PLC), told a briefing with journalists in the Saudi capital Riyadh.

“The solution is to eliminate the Huthis´ military capabilities.” Alimi heads the PLC, the internationally recognised government which the Huthis ousted from Sanaa nearly a decade ago.

The PLC is based in the southern city of Aden. Alimi said on Saturday that he supported the peace process but charged that the Huthis and Iran did not want peace.

He also said he wanted American and Saudi support for ground operations against the Huthis, and that Yemeni forces would need to be “partners” in those operations. “We demand (this support) every day, every month, every year,” he said.