Saudi official says kingdom ready to send troops to Syria

The British Government is facing increased pressure to halt arms sales to Saudi Arabia, with a cross-party committee of MPs stating there was “overwhelming” evidence a Saudi-led coalition had violated worldwide laws in Yemen using UK-supplied weapons.

In the southern port city of Aden, fighting erupted on Tuesday night between government forces and Al Qaida fighters after authorities set up roadblocks as part of a security plan.

“By failing to set up a serious United Nations inquiry on war-torn Yemen, the Human Rights Council squandered an important chance to deter further abuses”, Philippe Dam, deputy director of Human Rights Watch in Geneva, said in a statement.

Like Saudi Arabia, Turkey supports anti-Assad rebel groups, putting it at odds with Russian Federation. “Until then we should cease selling arms to Saudi Arabia”, wrote committee chair Stephen Twigg.

Asked about the comments at a briefing, U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby said the coalition was generally supportive of having partners contribute more in the fight against Islamic State but he had not seen the Saudi proposal.

Yemeni President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi praised the Arab Coalition, namely Saudi Arabia and the UAE, for supporting Yemen and showing what he called “a shared destiny and pan-Arab national unity and cohesion”. “We expect all parties to the conflict in Yemen to uphold global law and preserve the lives of journalists and other civilians”.

The government says it has stressed to the Saudis the importance of investigating claims of global law violations, but Mr Swayne stopped short of backing an worldwide inquiry.

Hoshami also confirmed to FNA that Yemeni forces had launched Tochka missiles against Saudi Arabia’s al-Anad military base in Lahij province today, killing over 200 Sudanese Blackwater mercenaries, their new commander U.S. Colonel Nicolas Petras, and several Apache and Typhoon attack helicopters.

“(The coalition) greatly regrets civilian casualties in Yemen”, the Coalition said on its official Twitter page.