Yemeni leader urges public to enlist, offers amnesty to Houthi defectors

The head of Yemen’s governing body has called on people to mobilise and join the Saudi-backed armed forces as it seeks to counter advances made by the Houthis towards the critical Bab al-Mandeb strait.

The Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council chair Rashad al-Alimi also pledged on Friday to pardon any Houthi fighter who defects to the government forces in his first speech since the government forces were routed from the western Red Sea coast by the rebel group.

“I call on the sons of our great people to engage in a general mobilisation and national mobilisation to rally around their armed and security forces, join their ranks through official channels, and contribute each from their respective position in whatever way they can,” he said in a recorded speech.

Al-Alimi said the internationally recognised government aims to restore control over Sana’a, the capital, which the Houthis seized in 2014. His speech marks the 64th anniversary of the military coup ousting the monarchy that ruled northern Yemen, prompting the civil war in 1962.

“Our objective is clear to everyone both at home and abroad: to restore state institutions and exercise their sovereignty over the entire country, including Sana’a,” Al-Alimi said.

Earlier on Friday, the military chiefs of staff of Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and Pakistan held their first meeting on the trilateral defence agreement, the Mecca Pact, amid the Houthis’ ongoing attacks on the kingdom.

Al-Alimi said the amnesty is effective immediately and will include those who leave the Houthi group, provided that the pardon is issued in accordance with proper constitutional and legal procedures.

On Saturday, the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen said on X that its air defence systems intercepted one ballistic missile headed towards Saudi Arabia’s Khamis Mushait launched by the Houthis and two drones headed towards Riyadh.