Arab League chief condemns 'criminal' Huthis for 'assassinating' Yemen's Saleh

CAIRO: Arab League chief Ahmed Abul Gheit on Tuesday condemned the killing of Yemen's former president Ali Abdullah Saleh by Huthi rebels, saying it illustrated their "criminal nature".

The head of the pan-Arab bloc warned that Saleh's killing as he fled the capital Sanaa on Monday following the collapse of his uneasy alliance with the rebels threatens an "explosion in the security situation" in the war-ravaged country.

Saleh's "assassination and the way it was done reveals to everyone the criminal nature bereft of humanity of that militia which constitutes the main reason for the devastation that has ravaged the country," Gheit said in a statement.

The Shiite Huthi rebels moved swiftly to consolidate their control over Sanaa after nearly a week of deadly clashes with Saleh loyalists.

Saleh, who had ruled Yemen for three decades, joined forces with the Huthis in 2014 when they took control of large parts of the country, including the capital.

But that alliance unravelled over the past week, with dozens reported dead in clashes as Saleh reached out to the Saudi-led coalition that has waged devastating air strikes against the Huthis since September 2015.

Yemen's war has left thousands dead since 2015, led to one of the world's worst humanitarian crises and deepened tensions between Middle East rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran.