Russia receives Yemen Houthi delegation

The Russian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs yesterday received a delegation from Yemen’s Houthi rebel group, Al Manar reported.

The Houthi delegation was headed by the group’s spokesperson Mohammad Abdulsalam. It also included Hamza Al-Houthi, who has previously led some of the Houthi delegations on the international stage.

The Kremlin, which is becoming increasingly supportive of the Houthi rebels and ousted President Ali Abdullah Saleh, has claimed it supports restoring the government of Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi but continues to give rebel forces an international platform.

In a statement, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs noted that the Houthi delegation “highly assessed” the Russian approach in Yemen. Yemen, which is the Arab world’s poorest country, has been wrecked by chaos since late 2014 when the Houthi group overran its capital city Sana’a and other parts of the country in a coup.