Aden: Cairo and Riyadh have discussed holding a “major military manoeuvre” in Saudi Arabia with other Gulf states, following talks on the progress of the three-week-old Saudi-led campaign of air strikes against the Al Houthis in Yemen, Egypt said.
The statement from the Egyptian presidency appeared to be a sign that members of the Arab coalition attacking the Al Houthis may carry through on threats to eventually follow their air campaign with a ground intervention or at least have a show of force next door.
Arab states have been bombing the Al Houthis in support of groups resisting an advance by the group and army units loyal to ousted former president Yemen President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
Other Gulf Arab countries would also participate in the manoeuvre, the Egyptian president’s office said late on Tuesday.
“It was decided to form a joint military committee to look into a large-scale strategic manoeuvre on Saudi territory,” said the statement issued after Al Sissi met Saudi Defence Minister Prince Mohammad Bin Salman.
It said the security of the Gulf region and the Red Sea was a “red line” for Cairo. The statement gave no timings or details of what the manoeuvres would entail, but a security official said such joint manoeuvres were the “highest level of training exercises.”
The meeting also discussed the latest developments in the Yemen campaign, the statement said.
The Egyptian navy and air force are participating in the Saudi-led campaign against the Al Houthi militia in Yemen, and Cairo has pledged ground forces if needed.
Al Sissi has pledged to defend those states that are concerned about Iranian influence.
Al Sissi was the key proponent of a joint Arab military force endorsed by the Arab League in March.
A UN resolution on Tuesday also demanded Al Houthis stop fighting and withdraw from areas they have seized, including the capital Sana’a.
On the ground, southern militiamen claimed gains against the Al Houthis on several battlefronts across southern Yemen, including districts of the port city of Aden, the last stronghold of loyalists to Saudi-backed President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi.
Iran, meanwhile, prepared to submit a four-point peace plan for Yemen to the United Nations on Wednesday, state media said.
Tehran’s proposal includes a call for an end to Saudi-led air strikes against the Al Houthis and is likely to anger Riyadh, which accuses Iran of meddling in the affairs of its southern neighbour.
The Security Council on Tuesday imposed a global asset freeze and travel ban on Ahmad Saleh, the former head of Yemen’s Republican Guard, and on Abdul Malek Al Houthi, an Al Houthi leader.
Saleh’s father, former president Saleh, and two other senior Al Houthi leaders, Abdul Khaleq Al Houthi and Abdullah Yahya Al Hakim, had been blacklisted by the Security Council in November.
The Security Council also expressed concern at what it called “destabilising actions” taken by former President Saleh, including supporting the Al Houthis.
The elder Saleh, who was forced to step down in 2012, is widely seen as having a behind-the scenes role in the conflict in league with the Al Houthis.
The resolution imposed an arms embargo on the five men and “those acting on their behalf or at their direction in Yemen” — effectively the Al Houthis and soldiers loyal to Saleh who are fighting alongside the Al Houthis.
A statement from the Al Houthi leadership condemned the resolution, which it said supported “aggression”.
The council voted 14 in favour, while Russia abstained, saying some of its proposals for the resolution drafted by council member Jordan and Gulf Arab states were not included.
