US Steps Up Arms Shipments to Back Saudi-Led Coalition

The United States has stepped up weapons deliveries in support of a Saudi-led coalition resisting the advance of Shiite rebels in Yemen, a senior US official said Tuesday.

"Saudi Arabia is sending a strong message to the Huthis and their allies that they cannot overrun Yemen by force," Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters in the Saudi capital.

"In support of that effort we have expedited weapons deliveries," he said after talks with Saudi officials.

"We've increased our intelligence sharing, and we've established a joint coordination planning cell in the Saudi operations centre."

The coalition on March 26 began air strikes in Yemen, aiming to defeat the Huthi rebels who seized power in the capital Sanaa in February, and who Riyadh feared would take over the entire country and shift it into the orbit of Shiite Iran, Sunni Saudi Arabia's regional rival.

The Huthis, allied with army units loyal to ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh, have been fighting forces loyal to President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, who fled to the Saudi capital Riyadh late last month from Aden.

Blinken, who is on a Middle East tour, met with Hadi during his Riyadh stop.

Blinken said it "is more important than ever" that the US and the Gulf Cooperation Council states, which include Saudi Arabia, coordinate closely and press all parties especially the Huthis and their allies "to commit to a consensus political solution".