Yemen's Houthi: Ali Abdulla Saleh killed for 'treason'

The leader of Yemen's Houthi rebels has praised the death of Ali Abdullah Saleh, the country's removed president, as a victory against a Saudi-led military coalition that Yemen has been battling.

Saleh's party has confirmed reports that he was killed in a roadside ambush on Monday outside the capital Sanaa after switching sides in the civil war, abandoning his Iran-aligned Houthi allies in favour of the Saudi-led coalition.

In a lengthy televised speech aired on the Houthi-run Al Masirah TV network, Abndul Malik al-Houthi said his fighters killed Saleh for his "treason" and congratulated Yemenis "on this historic, exceptional and great day in which the conspiracy of betrayal and treason failed, this black day for the forces of the aggression".

He said the uprising of Saleh's loyalists against the Houthi group was the greatest threat Yemen had faced but was defeated in three days.

He said the Houthi group would maintain the country's republican system and would not seek vengeance against Saleh's party.

"The problem is not with the General People's Congress as a party or with its members," he said.

The General People's Congress was Yemen's ruling party under Saleh but is now divided.

Several warnings

Without mentioning Saleh by name, Houthi said that he knew about Saleh's communication with the coalition and his efforts to turn against the Houthi group.

Houthi also said he had sent several warnings to Saleh.

"We have notified the leader of the traitor and criminal militias to retract, be wise, to stop his militias from continuing committing crimes," he said.

"Today is the day of the fall of the conspiracy of betrayal and treason. It's a dark day for the forces of the coalition."

WATCH: Yemen's Saleh leaves legacy of war and corruption

Houthi also praised a missile launch announced by the group towards the UAE this week as a message against its enemies, advising against foreign investment in the UAE and Saudi Arabia as their campaign in Yemen continues.

The Houthi rebels had similarly fired a missile towards Saudi Arabia's capital Riyadh last month, which the official media then said was intercepted by the kingdom's air defence.

"The official story was clear: Saudi forces shot down a ballistic missile fired by Yemen’s Houthi rebel group last month at Saudi Arabia’s capital, Riyadh. It was a victory for the Saudis and for the United States, which supplied the Patriot missile defense system," New York Times said in a report on Monday.

However, evidence analysed by a research team of missile experts at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey, California, indicate that the missile's warhead flew unimpeded over Saudi defences and nearly hit its target, Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport, according to the report.

Houthi account

The Houthi rebels claimed responsibility for the November 5 explosion in Riyadh, saying they fired a long-range ballistic missile that travelled more than 800km over the border with Saudi Arabia.

A spokesman for the rebels told Al Jazeera they launched a Burkan 2-H missile - a Scud-type missile with a range of more than 800km - towards Riyadh.

Videos on social media that evening showed smoke rising from an area near the King Khalid International Airport.

READ MORE

How did Yemen's Houthi-Saleh alliance collapse?

The Middlebury Institute analysis found that the warhead detonated so close to the domestic terminal that people jumped out of their seats.

"The findings show that the Iranian-backed Houthis, once a ragtag group of rebels, have grown powerful enough to strike major targets in Saudi Arabia, possibly shifting the balance of their years-long war," the New York Times said.

"And they underscore longstanding doubts about missile defence technology, a centrepiece of American and allied national defence strategies, particularly against Iran and North Korea."

Jeffrey Lewis, an analyst who led the research team, has been quoted by the New York Times as saying: "Governments lie about the effectiveness of these systems. Or they're misinformed.

"And that should worry the hell out of us."

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA NEWS

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/12/yemen-houthi-ali-abdulla-saleh-killed-treason-171204165531953.html