Yahoo... Riyadh (AFP) - Saudi Arabia's King Salman on Tuesday urged his fellow Gulf leaders to stand up to Iran, as Yemeni rebels backed by Tehran bombarded a Saudi border city. Salman's call came at a summit of Gulf monarchs in Riyadh also attended by French President Francois Hollande, who said his country was "by the side" of the Gulf's Arab nations.
The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit came with international concern mounting over the impact on civilians of Saudi-led air strikes targeting Yemeni rebels.
In a clear reference to Iran, Salman stressed the need to confront an external threat that "aims to expand control and impose its hegemony", risking regional stability and creating "sectarian sedition".
Soon afterwards, the Saudi-led coalition carrying out air raids in Yemen said Huthi Shiite rebels from across the border had fired on the Saudi city of Najran.
Mortar bombs and Katyusha rockets hit hospitals, schools and houses, coalition spokesman Brigadier General Ahmed Assiri said.
He reported injuries outside the city, but without giving details. View gallery French President Francois Hollande (R) attends the … French President Francois Hollande (R) attends the summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council on May 5, …
Artillery, tanks, helicopter gunships and fighter jets "are dealing with the situation which will not go unpunished," he said.
Hollande, the first Western leader to attend a GCC summit, said France shared the dangers facing the region and he had come "to affirm the commitment of France to be by your side".
The summit brought together leaders from Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
All but Oman are in the Sunni coalition that on March 26 launched air strikes against the rebels and their allies who have seized large parts of Yemen, including the capital Sanaa.
President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi fled to Riyadh when the rebels advanced on his southern refuge Aden.
Concern has mounted over the air campaign, which has continued despite the coalition's announcement late last month that it was moving to a new phase. View gallery Supporters of Yemen's Southern Separatist Movement … Supporters of Yemen's Southern Separatist Movement keep position near Aden airport on May 3, 201 …
- Humanitarian crisis -
The UN says at least 1,200 people have been killed in Yemen since March 19. It has repeatedly warned the already impoverished Arabian Peninsula state faces a major humanitarian crisis.
Saudi Arabia has said it is considering temporary halts in air strikes to allow aid deliveries.
Hollande told the summit France supports coalition efforts "to ensure the stability of Yemen", and backs Saudi Arabia's position that talks between Yemen's political forces must be held in Riyadh.
The Huthis reject such a proposal and Iran, which denies accusations of arming the Huthis, has called for negotiations at a neutral location.
The leaders at the summit welcomed Hadi's decision to convene on May 17 in Riyadh a congress for "all the Yemeni parties who support the legitimacy, security and stability of Yemen". View gallery Yemeni volunteers in Sanaa on May 4, 2015 collect rubbish … Yemeni volunteers in Sanaa on May 4, 2015 collect rubbish from the city's streets, where garbage …
Hollande arrived in Riyadh from Qatar where he attended the signing of a 6.3-billion-euro ($7-billion) deal between French aerospace firm Dassault and Qatari defence officials.
On Tuesday, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said Paris and Riyadh are also discussing 20 economic projects worth "tens of billions of euros".
Hollande's visit came as US President Barack Obama prepares to host GCC leaders for talks next week.
Most GCC countries are also part of a US-led coalition targeting the Islamic State jihadist group in Iraq and Syria.
- Tight security -
Security was high in Riyadh after IS threats to attack the kingdom. Green-bereted Royal Guards manned checkpoints, and a sniffer dog checked vehicles entering the Diriyah Palace summit venue.
Both Paris and Washington have also sought to reassure the Gulf states about an international accord being finalised over Iran's nuclear programme.
Gulf states fear Iran could still develop an atomic bomb under the deal that would limit its nuclear capabilities in return for lifting crippling international sanctions.
Tehran denies trying to develop a nuclear weapon.
"I know that Iran is at the heart of your preoccupations," Hollande told the summit.
In its final statement, the GCC expressed hope that a final accord between Tehran and six major powers, including France and the US, would "guarantee the peaceful character of the Iranian nuclear programme".
The leaders also requested that the accord "conform to all the international standards".
The only other foreign leader to have been invited to a GCC summit was Iran's then-president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in 2007. View Comments (199)
news.yahoo.com/gulf-leade...over-yemen-100243551.html
Reza Tavakolian...
Saudi training is a joke. Almost 4,000 Saudi forces fled their border bases in anticipation of Riyadh's order for launching a ground assault on Yemen, European diplomatic sources said on Sunday.
"The intel gathered by the western intelligence agencies showed that the Saudi military forces have fled their bases, military centers and bordering checkpoints near Yemen in groups," diplomatic sources were quoted as saying by Iraq's Arabic-language Nahrain Net news website.
The European sources said that the Saudi forces' mass AWOL forced Riyadh to declare ceasefire and dissuaded it from launching ground attacks against Yemen.
Other reports also said that over 10,000 soldiers from different Saudi military units have fled the army battalions and the National Guard.
Experts believe that the Saudi army lacks strong morale to launch a ground invasion of Yemen and such an attack would be considered as a suicide for Saudi Arabia.39-2
JimF... The Saudis are alarmingly duplicitous much like our so called buddies/allies in Israel they had their fingers all over the US going into the quagmire that is/was Iraq with Kuwait and Israel agitating in the background. Keep in mind that the alleged 9/11 hijackers were Saudis who had cia approved visas issued out of Jeddah and that at least nine of these supposed radical jihadists turned up alive and well months later. The Saudi/Kuwaiti financed security firm Securacom lead by Marvin Bush and bush first cousin Wird Walker had the contracts for the World Trade Center as well as Dulles and Logan airports. You an connect the dots 33-1
Eye Of Horus Let's see. Saudi Arabia beheads people for such crimes as adultery, car theft and witchcraft. Iran doesn't. Saudi Arabia doesn't let women go to school or leave the house without permission and an escort. Iran let's women go to school and leave the house. Saudi Arabia actually had something to do with 9/11, Iran didn't. We get riled up when ISIS beheads someone but Saudi Arabia beheads about 25 people per month. One of the beefs about the Taliban is they treat women the same way the Saudis do. Qaddafi and Assad were secular leaders but we criticize Iran for being a theocracy when the real islamist nutjobs are the Saudis. But everyone is our enemy except Saudi Arabia.9-2