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Yemeni PM Accuses Houthis, Iran of Deadly Aden Airport Blast

A security personnel member reacts during an attack on Aden airport moments after a plane landed carrying a newly formed cabinet, in Aden, Yemen December 30, 2020. (Reuters)
A security personnel member reacts during an attack on Aden airport moments after a plane landed carrying a newly formed cabinet, in Aden, Yemen December 30, 2020. (Reuters)
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Yemeni PM Accuses Houthis, Iran of Deadly Aden Airport Blast

A security personnel member reacts during an attack on Aden airport moments after a plane landed carrying a newly formed cabinet, in Aden, Yemen December 30, 2020. (Reuters)
A security personnel member reacts during an attack on Aden airport moments after a plane landed carrying a newly formed cabinet, in Aden, Yemen December 30, 2020. (Reuters)

Yemen’s prime minister renewed accusations on Thursday that the Houthi militias and Iran were responsible for the deadly explosion at the airport in the southern Yemeni city of Aden the previous day that killed at least 25 people and wounded 110.

The explosion took place as Cabinet members were disembarking from a plane that had landed in Aden just minutes earlier on Wednesday. AP footage from the scene showed many ministers rushing back inside the plane or running down the stairs, seeking shelter. None of the Cabinet members were hurt.

Hours after the blast, the country's legitimate government said the Iran-backed Houthis had fired four ballistic missiles at the airport.

“Preliminary investigations indicate that Houthi militias stand behind this crime,” Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalik Saeed said as the newly reshuffled Cabinet convened for the first time in Aden.

“Intelligence also indicates that some Iranian experts were prepping for such an operation over the last few months,” Saeed said Thursday.

Officials later on Wednesday reported a second explosion, close to a palace in the city where the Cabinet members were taken to following the airport attack. The Saudi-led coalition later shot down a bomb-laden drone that attempted to target the palace, according to Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya TV channel.

The newly formed Cabinet was set to meet for the first time since its formation in line with the Riyadh Agreement.

“We were supposed to begin by discussing the government program but this is an extraordinary meeting due to yesterday's cowardly and treacherous attack,” Saeed said, and asked his ministers to stand up silently for a moment to mourn the victims of the explosion.

Saeed also urged Western powers not to remain content with just condemning the attack but also to hold the perpetrators accountable.

“The international community is still debating whether to designate Houthis as a terrorist group," he said. “However, things are clear for us in Yemen. The actions of these militias prove they are a terrorist group.”

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Arab World

LF Organizes National Conference to Outline ‘Roadmap to Save Lebanon’

The head of the Lebanese Forces Party, Samir Geagea, at the celebration of the "Memory of the Martyrs of the Lebanese Resistance" (Lebanese Forces)
The head of the Lebanese Forces Party, Samir Geagea, at the celebration of the "Memory of the Martyrs of the Lebanese Resistance" (Lebanese Forces)
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LF Organizes National Conference to Outline ‘Roadmap to Save Lebanon’

The head of the Lebanese Forces Party, Samir Geagea, at the celebration of the "Memory of the Martyrs of the Lebanese Resistance" (Lebanese Forces)
The head of the Lebanese Forces Party, Samir Geagea, at the celebration of the "Memory of the Martyrs of the Lebanese Resistance" (Lebanese Forces)

The Lebanese Forces party has called for a national conference to address the Israeli war on Lebanon.

The conference, which will take place at the party’s headquarters in Maarab, aims to establish a political framework to halt the war, in cooperation with Arab nations and the international community, according to sources who spoke to Asharq Al-Awsat.

The sources said invitations have been sent to opposition parties, independent MPs, and national figures, though key groups such as Hezbollah, the Amal Movement, and the Marada Movement have not been invited.

They also noted that the goal is to “create a roadmap to rescue Lebanon from the destruction caused by its involvement in the conflict and to alleviate the suffering of the Lebanese people, who have endured violence, displacement, and destruction.”

The conference will emphasize the need for peace, prosperity, and the reconstruction of Lebanon, reflecting the will of the majority of the Lebanese population who feel powerless in the face of ongoing turmoil, the sources stressed.

In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, a source within the LF said that the party has remained “strategically silent out of respect for the war’s victims” but now believes it is time to speak up. The party’s leader, Dr. Samir Geagea, will outline key solutions, including an immediate ceasefire, full implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, and the urgent election of a president. These proposals are intended to appeal to both domestic and international audiences, including Iran and Israel, according to the same source.

The call for a conference follows an earlier initiative by opposition MPs, including those from the Lebanese Forces, which called for the Lebanese state to reclaim control, distance Lebanon from regional conflicts, and commit to a ceasefire and the full implementation of international resolutions. However, that initiative did not yield significant results.

While there are no guarantees that the Maarab conference will lead to immediate solutions, the source in the LF said that the party is determined to push forward, pointing that a follow-up committee will be formed to engage with political forces in Lebanon and key international stakeholders, including the ambassadors of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council.