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UN Security Council holds emergency meeting on Yemen

Xinhua, March 23, 2015 Adjust font size:

The UN Security Council on Sunday met in an emergency session to discuss the current situation in Yemen following a request by Yemeni President Abdo Rabbo Mansour Hadi for the 15-nation council's "urgent intervention".

The council meeting kicked off at 3:07 p.m. EDT (1907 GMT) on Sunday for consultations on Yemen, which came under several deadly terrorist attacks over the past few days.

In his letter addressed Friday to the Security Council, Hadi accused the Huthi militants and their allies of "criminal acts", saying they "not only threaten peace in Yemen, but the regional and international peace and security."

"I urge for your urgent intervention in all available means to stop this aggression that is aimed at undermining the legitimate authority, the fragmentation of Yemen and its peace and stability, " the president said in the letter.

UN Special Adviser JamaL Benomar briefed the council via a video link from Doha, capital of Qatar.

The 15 council members are expected to hear a briefing on the current situation in Yemen and adopt a presidential statement at the end of the emergency meeting, diplomatic sources said.

The emergency council meeting was announced Saturday as the United States was withdrawing its military personnel from a base in Yemen because of increasing insecurity there. About 100 U.S. troops, including special forces commandos, are leaving al-Anad air base near the southern city of al-Houta, reports said.

The city came under attacks by al-Qaeda fighters on Friday, although they were later driven out by the Yemeni army, just one day after suicide bombers killed at least 137 people in the capital Sanaa.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the council strongly condemned the deadly terrorist attacks on two mosques in the capital.

Militants allied to Islamic State (IS) said they carried out the attack, according to reports.

The Shiite Houthi group took over control of Sanaa in September and met strong resistance in the central and southern regions by powerful Sunni tribes and Sunni-dominated al-Qaida network.

On Thursday, the Yemeni president has been forced to flee his presidential palace after two fighter planes targeted his residence in Aden, the second biggest city in the country, the reports said.

Tensions have been building in Aden for days. Hadi loyalists dominate the city, but two army units are loyal to Saqqaf, a pro- Saleh commander, who leads a force of 3,000 special forces police. Hadi unsuccessfully tried to remove al-Saqqaf from his post earlier this month, prompting some clashes.

Yemen is the base of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), a powerful offshoot of the jihadist militant group that has carried out similar suicide attacks on Houthi supporters.

However, the terrorist Islamic State (IS), also known as ISIL or ISIS, is also gaining ground in the country. Endite