French President Francois Hollande has expressed support for Saudi Arabia\u2019s brutal military aggression against Yemen a day after Paris sold 6.3-billion-euro (USD-seven-billion) worth of fighter jets to Qatar.<\/p>\n
Addressing a meeting of the [Persian] Gulf Cooperation Council ([P]GCC) on Tuesday, the French leader said the Riyadh regime could count on the European country\u2019s support in its military campaign against Yemen.<\/p>\n
Hollande made the comments in response to Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud\u2019s claims at the summit that the Riyadh regime was seeking to bring \u201cstability\u201d to the region.<\/p>\n
Earlier in the day, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius had said his country and the kingdom were currently working on \u201c20 projects, which may represent several billion euros.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThese are extremely important prospects that show that the partnership is moving at a new speed with some concrete results,\u201d the French minister added.<\/p>\n
The [P]GCC\u2019s Tuesday summit focused on options to counter the ongoing advance of the popular committees, backed by Houthi Ansarullah fighters, in Yemen.<\/p>\n
During Hollande\u2019s Monday visit to Doha, France signed a deal with Qatar to sell the monarchy 24 Rafale fighter jets worth 6.3 billion euros (USD7 billion) to the Persian Gulf state.<\/p>\n
Riyadh launched its military aggression against its southern neighbor on March 26 – without a United Nations mandate – in a bid to undermine Yemen\u2019s Houthi Ansarullah movement and to restore power to Abd Rabbuh Mansur\u00a0Hadi, who is a staunch ally of Saudis.<\/p>\n
On April 21, Riyadh announced the end of the first phase of its military operation, but airstrikes have continued with Saudi bombers targeting different areas across the country in a new phase.<\/p>\n
The Saudis claim the airstrikes only target military positions. However, reports show civilians and infrastructure in civilian areas are being attacked. Recent reports also show Saudis have used cluster munitions in the northern province of Sa\u2019ada.<\/p>\n
The attacks have so far killed over 1,200\u00a0Yemenis, including many women and children, and injured thousands of others.<\/p>\n