Oil and Minerals Ministry has denied news reports about its providing of financial support for the Houthi group and religious centers run by the group. News reports had accused the Oil and Minerals Ministry, which is presided over by Hisham Sharaf who is among the most loyal ministers to the former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, of supporting the Houthi group to organize protests against the US ambassador to Yemen.
In a statement released on Monday, the Oil and Minerals Ministry described the reports as trumped up and groundless, urging media outlets to be unbiased and accurate.
Yemeni media sources have spoken about the increase of cooperation between Saleh and the Houthi group, pointing out that Saleh met with representatives of the Houthi group and that one of his family met with the Iranian ambassador to review joint cooperation.They further said that fighters of the Houthi group were brought to military camps led by Saleh's son, Ahmed, to be trained there.
Al-Ahali Newspaper said that Ahmed Ali Saleh met on March 29 with six high-ranking members of the Houth group in Al-Subaha military camp and that they agreed to enhance mutual cooperation and coordination.
A spokesman of the General People Congress Abdul-Jani has publicly stated in a press conference that the GPC had to ally with Al-Houthi as all regional and international forces abandoned it.
The Saada-based Al-Houthi group frequently arranges protests in which it demands to end US interventions in Yemen's affairs, accusing the United states of violating Yemen's sovereignty and killing Yemenis.