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Former Yemeni President Saleh Killed in Sana’a

Former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh. (Reuters)
Former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh. (Reuters)
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Former Yemeni President Saleh Killed in Sana’a

Former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh. (Reuters)
Former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh. (Reuters)

Former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh was killed on Monday by the Houthi militias.

Sources from his General People’s Congress announced that he was killed during the ongoing battles in the capital Sana’a. They did not disclose details about his death.

Social media websites posted photos and videos showing Saleh’s corpse with signs of severe injuries that led to his death.

His death came hours after the Houthis bombed his residence in central Sana’a. The houses of his relatives in the capital were also stormed and seized.

There have been conflicting reports about how he was killed. Some reports speculated that he may have been killed by a sniper gunshot, not in his house explosion.

The General People’s Congress announced later on Monday that a successor to Saleh will be announced within days.

“His death has fueled the anger of the Yemenis against the Houthis,” it added.

Sana’a has since Wednesday been witnessing fierce clashes between the Houthi militants and Saleh supporters, leaving hundreds dead and injured.

On Saturday, Saleh announced that he was ready to open a new page of ties with the Saudi-led coalition aimed at restoring legitimacy in Yemen, effectively ending his three-year alliance with the Iran-backed Houthis.

Saleh, 75, ruled Yemen from 1978 until 2011.

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Italy’s Foreign Minister Heads to Syria to Encourage Post-Assad Transition

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks to the media a he arrives for a meeting at Rome’s Villa Madama, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025 on the situation in Syria after the collapse of the Assad regime. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini (Andrew Medichini/AP POOL)
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks to the media a he arrives for a meeting at Rome’s Villa Madama, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025 on the situation in Syria after the collapse of the Assad regime. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini (Andrew Medichini/AP POOL)
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Italy’s Foreign Minister Heads to Syria to Encourage Post-Assad Transition

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks to the media a he arrives for a meeting at Rome’s Villa Madama, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025 on the situation in Syria after the collapse of the Assad regime. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini (Andrew Medichini/AP POOL)
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks to the media a he arrives for a meeting at Rome’s Villa Madama, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025 on the situation in Syria after the collapse of the Assad regime. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini (Andrew Medichini/AP POOL)

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said he would travel to Syria on Friday to encourage the country's transition following the ouster of President Bashar Assad by insurgents, and appealed on Europe to review its sanctions on Damascus now that the political situation has changed.
Tajani presided over a meeting in Rome on Thursday of foreign ministry officials from five countries, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and the United States.
The aim, he said, is to coordinate the various post-Assad initiatives, with Italy prepared to make proposals on private investments in health care for the Syrian population.
Going into the meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and their European counterparts, Tajani said it was critical that all Syrians be recognized with equal rights. It was a reference to concerns about the rights of Christians and other minorities under Syria’s new de facto authorities of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HT.
“The first messages from Damascus have been positive. That’s why I’m going there tomorrow, to encourage this new phase that will help stabilize the international situation,” Tajani said.
Speaking to reporters, he said the European Union should discuss possible changes to its sanctions on Syria. “It’s an issue that should be discussed because Assad isn’t there anymore, it’s a new situation, and I think that the encouraging signals that are arriving should be further encouraged,” he said.
Syria has been under deeply isolating sanctions by the US, the European Union and others for years as a result of Assad’s brutal response to what began as peaceful anti-government protests in 2011 and spiraled into civil war.
HTS led a lightning insurgency that ousted Assad on Dec. 8 and ended his family’s decades-long rule. From 2011 until Assad’s downfall, Syria’s uprising and civil war killed an estimated 500,000 people.
The US has gradually lifted some penalties since Assad departed Syria for protection in Russia. The Biden administration in December decided to drop a $10 million bounty it had offered for the capture of a Syrian opposition leader whose forces led the ouster of Assad last month.
Syria’s new leaders also have been urged to respect the rights of minorities and women. Many Syrian Christians, who made up 10% of the population before Syria’s civil war, either fled the country or supported Assad out of fear of insurgents.