Identity of Ali Abdullah Saleh’s killer revealed as new details emerge

Sources that are well-informed about the murder of former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh and Aref Al-Zouka in Sanaa in December 2017 said they were killed by a mediator named Abu al-Karar al-Washli, the website Al-Mashhad Al-Yemeni reported.

“The Houthi official who shot Saleh and Zouka with a Russian gun is named Abu al-Karar al-Washli and he was one of the mediators between Saleh and the Houthis at the time,” the sources said.

“They were murdered using a Russian gun from a distance of 100 meters away from Saleh’s residence in Al-Kumaim while (Saleh’s) car was leaving along with car which the mediator, the Houthi official, was in, and the latter opened fire after receiving a phone call from Houthi spokesperson Mohamed Abdel Salam,” the sources also said.

According to the sources, showing photos of a dead Saleh in Sanhan was in compliance with the commands of Houthi leader Abdulmalik al-Houthi to intimidate the people of Sanhan and his tribe.

General People's Congress official Yasser al-Yamaneen had told the Russian Sputnik news agency that the Houthis killed Saleh and Zouka near (Saleh’s) house in Al-Kumaim after General People's Congress officials betrayed him and denied the Houthis’ story that Saleh was killed in Sanhan.