omar saleh has more. sanaa. omar saleh has more. >> the air base is under the control of the yes ma'ami army. weyes,the yemeni army.until we clarify the area that they are controlling now. >> reporter: in the meantime, yemen's president abd rabbu mansour hadi appeared in at the arab summit. will probably seek more military and political support from the arabs. they stormed his presidential palace in january he resigned in protest and was put under house arrest. he then escaped to aden and retracted his resignation. the houthis say hadi is illegitimate mat. they want to form a provisional presidential party then hold elections. former long time president of yemen, ali abdalla saleh. consider saleh as the make orchestrator of the situation in yemen. he released a statement through one of his aides. >> translator: an honest return to the negotiating table under the u.n. the dialogue should be moved to the uae or any other location. >> that dialogue could come a little late. signed a u.n. backed peace and partnershi

he didn't inherit a proper country. >> omar al saleh, great talking to you, our correspondent there, omar al saleh, speaking to us about the event that are happening in >>> live in doha if you have just joined us we have rolling coverage on the yemen crisis, a saudi led g.c.c. coalition has begun a military operation in yemen with air strikes targeting houthi fighters. and according to the saudi news agency, there is more support coming from the 10-nation coalition, egypt jordan, sudan ma rack oh, and pakistan have expressed their willingness to join the fight. in several key places including the presidential palace and police head quarters have been

we have the reaction that we see today. >>> let's get more analysis from our i don't want end omar al saleh who has coughed this story quite thoroughly. now, omar, we cannot get away from the issue that there is a proxy war being fought over yemen here between saudi arabia and iran. now that would seem the saudi led coalition air strikes in sanaa, how do you see teheran reacting? >> well, there hasn't been any official reaction from teheran now, but i think they will denounce the saudi-led operation or campaign against the houthis in yemen. because we have heard in the past they warned against any military intervention and said that such a military intervention would complicate matters. i don't know to what extent iran will be involved in all of this. will they support the houthis military? i doubt. i think it will complicate things for iran even more. however, i do expect they will denounce and warn the saudis and the members of the coalition of continuing in those strikes . >> given that the houthi rebels are now in control of yemen's military equipment and a lot of those security forces

extremist groups in yemen who pose a threat to them. >> let's get more from our correspondent omar al saleh, joining me on the text. omar - saudi arabia is leading the coalition against the houthi rebels in yemen. at the same time saudi arabia has to contend with an i.s.i.l. threat in the north. they are also contending with their own domestic terrorism. there's al qaeda that is active with i.s.i.l. elements in saudi arabia and you have the houthis in the south. how much of an appetite does saudi arabia have in terms of trying to quell all these fires, shall we say? >> i think they have the appetite because you mentioned a threat, a direct threat for their own security and their existence, because al qaeda's campaign against them. they want to topple the rule in the kingdom. this is declared for years. it's serious what saudi arabia is facing in terms of an internal campaign by al qaeda and i.s.i.l. the other threat is coming from the southern neighbour, and that's yemen, and it has a long border with yemen, and the houthis stronghold is driving there on the border. and saudi arabia has a l

saleh is believed to be. appears to have been the capital sanaa. omar al saleh reports. >> for the third night the coalition strikes houthi targets. air defense batteries supply routes and weapons depot. >> we were attacked by the coalition, now the air base is under the control of the yemeni army. we will continue to target their movement, their concentration of forces. until we clarify all the areas that they are controlling now. >> in the meantime, yemen's president abd rabbu mansour hadi arrived in egypt to attend the arab summit. hadi is widely recognized as yemen's legitimate leader, he had called for intervention and probably will call for more political support to end the houthi takeover of his country. the shia houthis swept through the capital sanaa in september. they stormed his presidential palace in january. he resigned and was put under house arrest. he then fled to aden and rejected his resignation. they want to hold elections they have powerful friends get help with iran and have relations with the former president of yemen ali abdalla s

omar saleh, al jazeera. >> u.s. ships operating in the gulf of aden responded to a request for help from saudi arabia. the recovery operation lasted about two hours. there is no word on what caused the jets to go down over international waters. both the saudi air men are reportedly in good condition. >> meanwhile, saudi arabia is getting help from other gulf countries. gerald tan has the story. >> saudi arabia is leading this campaign. it has an estimated 100 fighter jets conducting the air strikes. and 150,000 saudi soldiers are standing by near the yemeni border. supported by a broad coalition acknowledge uae kuwait, bahrain and qatar have lent aid. morocco jordan an sudan have also contributed. you'll aol centered on air strikes, egypt has sent four ships through the red sea to help secure the gulf of aden. this strategic port is crucial. ready to take a ground offensive with sudan and jordan pledging the same. the united states says it is providing advisory and logistical help. it is not clear if it will allow s

. >> omar al saleh, great talking to you, our correspondent there, omar al saleh, speaking to us about the event that are happening in >>> live in doha if you have just joined us we have rolling coverage on the yemen crisis, a saudi led g.c.c. coalition has begun a military operation in yemen with air strikes targeting houthi fighters. and according to the saudi news agency, there is more support coming from the 10-nation coalition, egypt jordan, sudan ma rack oh, and pakistan have expressed their willingness to join the fight. in several key places including the presidential palace and police head quarters have been hit in the air strikes houthi tv in yemen says at least 10 people are dead and already reports of a dozen of casualties. it was the saudi ambassadors in washington who announced the air strikes and he wouldn't specify the extent of u.s. cooperation the u.s. reveals it is providing the saudis with military support. the saudi air strikes come at that time a crucial time for the u.s. as it continues their negotiation with his iran. >> reporter: the saudi venue was chosen to a

saleh is accused of taking the part of the houthis the outcome could affect yemen's political landscape. omar al saleh al jazeera. >> saudi arabia already saying it's a success. what does that mean? >> well basically what the saudis are trying to do is target basically the fighter jets and destroy them. and long range rocket launchers. these are the biggest concerns for them because they think that the houthis will be definitely willing to use them to retaliate against the u.s. led -- the saudi led air strikes and just over the last few hours they basically went after two main areas: the capital sanaa where you have the republican guard which is -- this is backed by ali abdalla saleh and the houthi stronghold, they are trying to destroy the ammunition and rocket launchers. very good situation by the end of the day because the houthis are very well entrenched in the south of the country and it is unsure whether air strikes alone will be able to disrupt the entire structure of the houthis. >> it's not going to be as easy as removing them and moving on to another process? >> it is going to be ve

joining us on set is omar al saleh who has been covering the story for many months. was this inevitable. was there no other way apart from a strike against the rebels and their tart? >> i think it's the conclusion that the g.c.c. reached as a time. they gave time for diplomacy and the u.n. special envoy to try to sort out a deal. each time every time the u.n. as well as the political parties in yemen reach a deal with the houthis, it seems they sign a deal and the houthis go on and control more territory. i'll give you an example. on the day that sanaa fell the houthis were engaged in a dialogue for several forces. forces outside the building. they were controlling more - the rest of the capital of sanaa. they signed a peace and partnership agreement. that deal was to give the houthis more say in the government and more representation in the government, and they formed a new prime minister. they have a number of ministerial posts and so on. yet they went on to control more territory. i think there's a lack of trust for the houthis, and the end game was not reaching a

let's talk with our correspondent omar al sallyh saleh in studio. what about the other cubs who are involved, do we know the other countries and what they are doing? >> we know there are ten countries, saudi arabia qatar united arab emirates, bahrain there are talks of others joining the campaign. we don't know. egypt says it is coordinating very closely with the gcc countries, it is willing to send jets, even naval forces or land or ground troops if required. we don't know the exact number of the countries who are either planning to participate or would like to participate. i think in the next hours perhaps a day or two it will be a clearer picture. >> and what targets are they hitting with these air strikes? >> a number of targets and quite important ones, they hit a number of military bases in the capital, sanaa. they've destroyed the command and control center, they hit el delafey air base, they hit a number of radar equipment launchers as well as the presidential palace, the special forces headquarters. they hit sadr and according to yemeni loc

omar al saleh. >> we insisted on the importance of dialogue. we always asked for it and still do but it has to be on equal grounds where we wouldn't have one side dominate the other. it has to be under the legality of the president and the state not under the legality of the troops. >> joining me via skype did you get any sleep hakem? >> maybe one hour. the attacks were crazy and wild very powerful last night and they lasted until 5:00 a.m. yesterday. all the houses were shaking. doors were also cracked. >> do you know anything more about the targets? >> the targets were the same as yesterday. they were strategic weapons storage areas for ex-president saleh, but they relocated the same weapons in the neighborhood and the attacks happened again. to ensure they don't attack inwhen they can. the infrastructure was damaged and they were attacked at the airport as well. that's major or critical. >> any idea about victims? >> reporter: as of now the victims for this morning's attack are still unknown. the houthis believe pictures and videos, as of no

saleh is accused of fighting with the houthis. the outcometo could change yemen's political landscape and tip the balance of regional powers. omar al saleh. al jazeera. >>> a coalition led by the al nusra front has captured the northern section of idlib. stefanie dekker has the story. >> the city of idlib has been under the syrian government through most of the war but after days of fighting it is the rebels who are now in charge. led by the al nusra front an al qaeda affiliate, al jazeera spoke to a fighter with them in the city. >> translator: alfattah is the main reason for advance in the idlib city. there are no names all rebels are fighting under the one name of gish alphash al al fatah. >> this one appears to show fighters reuniting at home. after years ton battlefield. now we're told thousands have fled during this recent offensive. air strikes have been carried out in the last four days unprecedented in this area because it's been aired this footage of the syrian army and sair its forcessay its force he are regrouping. there doesn't seem to be too much concern the fighters aring being fighting this city. >> islamic state

pressure may have the consequence of pushing the houthi and their allies among former president omar al saleh's supporters closer together rather than trying to break that alliance between the two factions. >>> certainly very complex. great to get your insight. >> christopher swift, the professor of security studies from george town university >>> turning attention to syria, where the president says he's open to dialogue why the united states. bashar al-assad made the comments in a television interview view with cb s. he said there must we no questioning of syria's sovereignty. every day is a positive thing. we'll be open to any dialogue regarding anything mute although respect >>> the united nations doubled syrians living in besieged areas. the new number has 440,000 people. the earlier estimate of 212,000 was too low. syrian government forces bombed areas in idlib. some were injured in a clar een gas attack. opposition fighters have been advancing in recent days. >> to iraq where the battle for tikrit is intensifying. militias are targetting i.s.i.l. in the city. the u.s. conducted air tricks

omar al saleh has more. >> the president gets the critical backing he wants. a rare moment of agreement to curb the rise of the fighters. abd-rabbu mansour hadi is talking tough. >> i call on you to continue operation for the gang surrenderers. leaving state institutions and laying down the arms and returning all the weapons they seized. >> reporter: leading the war, they were forced to take action to protect yemen. he remains open for dialogue with commissions. >> we wish we didn't have to take the decision. we stress that they are opening the door for political parties. they want to maintain the security. to meet under the umbrella of the d.c. c. rejecting the call against it and stop threats against regional countries. >> the saudis and gulf and arab states are nervous about the rise of iran. they feel the influence is creeping closer closer by way in the north and support for houthis in the south. air strikes are hitting positions on the other side of that border joint by artillery from the south-east side. fighter jets on saturday struck multiple targets,