Egypt pledges ‘all possible’ help to Saudi Arabia

Egypt’s National Defense Council agreed Sunday to back Saudi Arabia against Yemen’s Houthis, pledging “all possible forms of support” without saying what that would include, The Associated Press reported.

The decision comes as Houthi drones and missiles keep hitting Saudi airports and oil infrastructure. AP said the attacks have killed at least 19 people, disrupted thousands of flights and rattled global markets.

The council, chaired by President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi, met a month after a visit by the Saudi crown prince, AP reported. On Saturday, el-Sisi asked parliament to authorize deploying troops and military equipment abroad, according to AP. Al Jazeera reported that parliament was to hold an emergency session Sunday at his request.

El-Sisi said Saturday that Egypt would “carry out any measure to protect” Saudi Arabia if the kingdom asks for help, Al Jazeera reported. He said it would be “inconceivable” for Cairo to stand by if Saudi Arabia were harmed, but that Egypt is not seeking to intervene in regional wars. “I’m not talking about fighting anyone or attacking anyone. We are speaking only about defence,” he said. Neither report gave a troop number, and the outcome of the parliamentary session was not available when this story was published.

The Houthis resumed attacks because Saudi Arabia backs Yemen’s internationally recognized government, AP reported, and they have declared their own blockade on the kingdom. Our earlier reports covered the strikes on Saudi airports and the missile attack on the presidential palace in Aden.

Houthi chief negotiator Mohamed Abdulsalam blamed Saudi Arabia for the escalation and said Oman had offered a five-day truce, AP reported. He said Saudi Arabia had given no “indication that it is ready to deal positively” with Houthi demands. A Saudi diplomat, in a rare briefing, said the kingdom had sought a meeting in Oman “to resolve outstanding differences and bring an end to this escalation,” AP reported.

Casualty and strike claims from the battlefield remain disputed. The Houthi-run Health Ministry said an airstrike in Yemen’s Saada province killed at least nine people, including five children, and wounded 19 others, according to AP. The Houthis also said 110 missiles or airstrikes hit civilian sites in Sanaa and other cities. AP said it could not verify that claim. Saudi officials said a Saudi helicopter gunship that crashed near Najran, killing its two crew, suffered a technical malfunction, while the Houthis claimed they shot it down.

Diplomacy is moving in parallel. The Gulf Cooperation Council said after a foreign ministers’ meeting in Manama, Bahrain, that an attack on any of its six members would be treated as an attack on all, and backed Saudi Arabia’s right to self-defence, Al Jazeera reported. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi spoke by phone with his Egyptian counterpart, Badr Abdelatty, about “the latest regional developments,” according to AP, and Al-Azhar, Egypt’s leading Islamic institution, called for an “urgent mediation committee.”

For Canadians, the main exposure is travel and family. Canada’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia said earlier this month the embassy in Riyadh remains open for Canadians who need consular help, as we reported in our story on the Riyadh airport attack. Canadians with plans through Saudi airports should check the current advice at travel.gc.ca. The Saudi-Houthi fighting has also already forced the postponement of an EU-Gulf summit in Riyadh.

What happens next depends on whether Egypt’s parliament approves a deployment, whether Saudi Arabia asks for help, and whether Oman’s truce offer gains traction. The story is developing, and key claims on both sides have not been independently verified.

Via The Associated Press and Al Jazeera.

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