Yemen swears in presidential body after Hadi stepped aside

Yemen’s internationally recognized presidential council was sworn in Tuesday in the southern port city of Aden, state-run media reported.

The swearing-in took place before the parliament in a ceremony attended by foreign ambassadors and the U.S. and U.N. envoys to Yemen, SABA news agency said.

Aden serves as the interim seat of the internationally recognized government since the Houthi rebels seized the capital of Sanaa in 2014, setting off Yemen’s long-running civil war.

The presidential council was appointed earlier this month after former President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi stepped aside. Hadi transferred his powers and those of his vice president to the council, which will run the country and lead peace talks with the Houthis.

Hadi's move came during concerted international and regional efforts to end the conflict.

The move angered the Iran-backed Houthis as it was meant to unify the anti-Houthi camp after years of infighting and disputes. It came as the Houthis and the government embarked on a 60-day truce brokered by the U.N. earlier this month.

The council is chaired by Rashad al-Alimi, an adviser to Hadi and former interior minister with the government of late strongman Ali Abdullah Saleh. He has close ties to Saudi Arabia.

Al-Alimi called on the international community to pressure the Houthis to engage in peace efforts because he said the rebels were still attacking the central city of Marib and other government-held areas despite the truce.

The council is committed to “end the (Houthi) coup and the war” and establish “fair and permeant peace that preserves the state and its constitutional institutions,” he said.

Parliament Speaker Sultan al-Borkani echoed the same message. However, he warned that they were ready to continue fighting after the unification of the anti-Houthi camp.

“This is our opportunity to take the road of fair and honorable peace,” he said. “Our hands are still extended (for peace), and our weapons are ready at the same time.”

There was no immediate comment from the Houthis.

The council has seven other members, including Aydarous al-Zubaidi, head of the secessionist Southern Transitional Council — an umbrella group of heavily armed militias propped up by the United Arab Emirates since 2015.

Also on the council are Sheikh Sultan al-Aradah, the powerful governor of energy-rich Marib province, and Tariq Saleh, a militia leader and nephew of the late president with close ties to the UAE.

Another member is Abdel-Rahman Abu Zarah, commander of the UAE-backed Giants Brigades, which played a crucial role recently in repelling the Houthi offensive on the central city of Marib.

The Houthis are backed by Iran while the government forces are aided by a Saudi-led coalition that launched an air campaign in 2015 to try to restore the internationally recognized government.

The war killed over 150,000 people and pushed Yemen to the brink of famine.

JERUSALEM (AP) — Yemen's Houthi rebels on Saturday claimed shooting down another of the U.S. military's MQ-9 Reaper drones, airing footage of parts that corresponded to known pieces of the unmanned aircraft.

The Houthis said they shot down the Reaper with a surface-to-air missile, part of a renewed series of assaults this week by the rebels after a relative lull in their pressure campaign over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.

U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Bryon J. McGarry, a Defense Department spokesperson, acknowledged to The Associated Press on Saturday that “a U.S. Air Force MQ-9 drone crashed in Yemen.” He said an investigation was underway, without elaborating.

The Houthis described the downing as happening Thursday over their stronghold in the country's Saada province.

Footage released by the Houthis included what they described as the missile launch targeting the drone, with a man off-camera reciting the Houthi's slogan after it was hit: “God is the greatest; death to America; death to Israel; curse the Jews; victory to Islam.”

The footage included several close-ups on parts of the drone that included the logo of General Atomics, which manufactures the drone, and serial numbers corresponding with known parts made by the company.

Since the Houthis seized the country’s north and its capital of Sanaa in 2014, the U.S. military has lost at least five drones to the rebels counting Thursday's shootdown — in 2017, 2019, 2023 and this year.

Reapers, which cost around $30 million apiece, can fly at altitudes up to 50,000 feet and have an endurance of up to 24 hours before needing to land.

The drone shootdown comes as the Houthis launch attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, demanding Israel ends the war in Gaza, which has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians there. The war began after Hamas-led militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and taking some 250 others hostage.

The Houthis have launched more than 50 attacks on shipping, seized one vessel and sank another since November, according to the U.S. Maritime Administration.

Houthi attacks have dropped in recent weeks as the rebels have been targeted by a U.S.-led airstrike campaign in Yemen. Shipping through the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden has declined because of the threat. American officials have speculated that the rebels may be running out of weapons as a result of the U.S.-led campaign against them and after firing drones and missiles steadily in the last months. However, the rebels have renewed their attacks in the last week.

A Houthi supporter raises a mock rocket during a rally against the U.S. and Israel and to support Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, in Sanaa, Yemen, Friday, April. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Osamah Abdulrahman)