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Houthi Minister Confesses Plotting President Hadi’s Assassination | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Yemen’s President Hadi/Reuters


Riyadh- In a rare confession, Hassan Zaid, a “minister” of youth and sports working with the Houthis, said he had asked the head of the so-called Supreme Political Council, Saleh al-Samad, to assassinate President Abd Rabu Mansour Hadi while he was placed under house arrest in the Yemeni capital, Sana’a, around two years ago.

In a post published on his Facebook page on Monday, Zaid revealed that during a telephone conversation conducted following confrontations between the presidential guards and Houthi militias in 2014, he had advised al-Samad to keep Abd Rabu under house arrest even if he had to kill him.

Zaid wrote: “This is the first time in my life that I confess about advising the killing or imprisoning of a person. When I learned about the confrontations between Ansr Allah and Abd Rabu’s guards, I told Mr. Saleh: Abd Rabu cannot leave the house, kill him if you must or arrest him if you are unable to, for his escape will be considered a sedition and a disaster.”

Following their invasion of Sana’a in 2014, Houthi militias had besieged the house of Hadi.

Saudi lawyer Dr. Majed Karoub said Zaid’s confession stipulates the trial of Hassan Zaid as a war criminal and a traitor of his state and national.

“The confession is considered as an evidence that Houthis are mercenaries. There is a need to trial him for conspiring against the state and for plotting the assassination of the legitimate president,” Karoub told Asharq Al-Awsat on Monday.

Zaid also revealed on his Facebook post that his request was religiously thoughtful and a hasty reaction.

“Today, I cannot advise the killing of any person, because I fear holding the responsibility of such an act and I am not in a position of decision-making,” he added.