Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammad bin Zayed al-Nahyan arrived in Riyadh on Sunday to meet with Saudi defense minister Prince Mohammed bin Salman to discuss developments in Yemen, where both countries are taking part in an air campaign targeting Houthi militias. Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef received Sheikh Mohammad bin Zayed at the Riyadh airbase along with other high-ranking officials. Delegations of both Emirati and Saudi officials also attended the meeting which also discussed ways to enhance the bilateral relation between the two countries. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia's foreign minister Prince Saud al-Faisal also welcomed his French counterpart Laurent Fabius in Riyadh on Sunday. "Concerning Yemen, we are here to demonstrate our support, especially political, to the Saudi authorities," Fabius told reporters as he began a series of meetings with the Saudi leadership including King Salman. Fabius reaffirmed to his Saudi hosts that "France is naturally on the side of its regional partners for the restoration of stability in Yemen," according to his entourage. Paris, like Riyadh and Washington, considers Hadi as leader of the legitimate government of Yemen, which had supported a United States drone war against al-Qaeda fighters there. "It will be necessary, at one moment or another, to hold talks" for a political solution, Fabius said. "How can Iran call for us to stop the fighting in Yemen ... We came to Yemen to help the legitimate authority, and Iran is not in charge of Yemen," Prince Faisal said. Saudi Arabia and a coalition of regional countries launched a military campaign against the Iran-backed Houthis on March 26, vowing to continue to fight until Yemen is stable and secure again. Houthi militia overran the capital Sanaa in September and expanded to other parts of Yemen. Riyadh feared the rebels would take over the entire country and move it into the orbit of Iran, Sunni Saudi Arabia's regional rival.
