Yemen's Houthi rebels 'receiving Egyptian military hardware'

Houthi rebels have received a dozen advanced military boats and other supplies from Egypt, a senior Yemeni official has told The New Arab.

The official who works directly with the Houthis and their allies on Yemen's western coast alleges that the Egyptian navy delivered the hardware to the rebels in the past two months.

The anonymous official said that the boats were supplied by the Egyptian navy and to the commander of a military base in western Hodeida province through an associate of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh.

The transaction took place on an island off the coast of al-Luhayyah, in northern Hodeida province, the official told The New Arab.

The official claims that despite Egypt's government having close ties with Saudi Arabia, Cairo also established good relations with the Yemeni rebels after the start of the Saudi-led military intervention in the country.

Egypt is officially part of the Saudi-led coalition fighting Houthi rebels in Yemen, but has been severely criticised by its Gulf Arab allies for failing to commit ground troops to the operation.

More recently, Egypt broke ranks with its Gulf allies when it voted in favour of a Russian-drafted UN Security Council resolution on Syria strongly opposed by Riyadh.

Two days later, Cairo announced that Saudi oil giant Aramco halted petroleum shipments for October, which were part of a deal signed in April for Aramco to deliver 700,000 tonnes of products monthly to Egypt.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi last week defended his country Security Council vote saying "We are very, very careful about our historical relations with our brothers in the Gulf…but in the context where we respect our sovereignty, together."

"If you want real sovereignty in decision-making, nations that are sovereign in their decisions suffer, suffer a lot," Sisi added.

"Those who want to have a free will must endure," he said.