Arab Media: Abdullah Saleh’s Son Turns Down Saudi, UAE Demands

“Ahmad has thanked the Saudis and the Emiratis for their trust but rejected their requests for picking up the political and military leadership of the National Congress,” the Yemen-based Ma’arib Press news website reported, adding that the response has stunned the Saudi and UAE officials.

It added that the Saudis had promised Saleh’s son that he would be provided with much possibilities and huge amounts of money to lead the National Congress in Yemen but he continued to turn down the offer.

Ali Abdullah Saleh was killed while escaping from Sana’a to Ma’arib province earlier this month.

Saleh was fleeing Sana’a on an armored vehicle when his vehicle was hit and destroyed.

Saleh was also accompanied by his deputy Aref Zuka and Secretary-General of the National Congress Party Yasser al-Avazi when their car was hit in Khoulan al-Tayal security point.

A Yemeni reporter said that Saleh had an appointment with Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, one of the former military men affiliated to the former regime and Saudi Arabia, to help him escape from Ma’arib to be transferred to the UAE.

The new change in the course of the Yemeni conflict came after Saleh and his supporters turned their weapons against Ansarullah movement.

Meantime, Ansarullah leader Abdul-Malek al-Houthi accused Saleh of “betrayal,” vowing to keep fighting against the Saudi-led coalition.

The coalition later welcomed Saleh’s new stance and offered to provide support to fight the Ansarullah fighters, according to Al-Arabiya.