SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt
Arab League Secretary-General Nabil al-Arabi on Thursday stressed his support for a Saudi-led military offensive against Yemen's Shiite Houthi group.
"I reiterate support for the operation, which aims to end the Houthi coup at the request of President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi," al-Arabi told a meeting of Arab foreign ministers in Egypt's Sharm el-Sheikh.
He argued that the offensive was "in line with the Arab League charter and resolutions on the situation in Yemen" and a joint Arab defense treaty.
Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies launched the offensive late Wednesday with a string of overnight airstrikes against Houthi positions and assets in Yemen, including some in capital Sanaa.
Predominantly-Sunni Saudi Arabia said the strikes were in response to calls by Hadi for military intervention in Yemen to "save the people from the Houthi militias."
Fractious Yemen has been in turmoil since last September, when the Houthis overran capital Sanaa, from which they have sought to extend their influence to other parts of the country.
Some Gulf countries suspect that the Houthi insurgency is supported by Shiite Iran.
