General Soleimani was prominent figure in fight against global terrorism: Yemeni minister

Yemeni Information Minister Dhaifallah al-Shami has censured the assassination of Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), lauding the top Iranian commander as a key figure in the fight against global terrorism.

Shami said on Monday that General Soleimani and the second-in-command of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, who was killed alongside the top Iranian general in a US airstrike in Iraq, represented the entire Muslim world and their loss is tremendous for all Muslims.

“General Qassem Soleimani played a big role in the fight against global terrorism. The blood that is shed in Yemen is part of the blood that is shed in Palestine, Iraq, Syria and Iran,” the Yemeni minister pointed out.

“Yemeni people consider the American crime of assassinating General Soleimani and Muhandis a crime against themselves. Their blood along with that of Saleh Ali al-Samad (the head of Yemen’s Supreme Political Council) will generate thousands of commanders,” Shami said.

Ansarullah: Assassination of General Soleimani, PMU deputy head US war crime against Muslims

"...one can rest assured that his blood will chase Americans more than ever," Ansarullah says.

Earlier in the day, tens of thousands of people staged a symbolic funeral ceremony in the northwestern Yemeni city of Sa’ada to commemorate General Soleimani and Muhandis, and denounce their January 3 assassination in the US airstrike at Baghdad International Airport.

They chanted slogans such as “God is the Greatest,” “America is the Great Satan,” “US (administration) is Terrorist ... We are the People of Freedom.”

Speaking at the ceremony, Sa’ada Provincial Governor Muhammad Jaber Awad extended his condolences to the leader of Yemen’s Houthi Ansarullah movement, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, leaders of the resistance front in Iran, Iraq and Lebanon as well as the families of the martyrs, saying, “What America did is a dangerous escalation and deserves no response other than uprooting their evil presence, and expelling US forces from Iraq and the region.”

Later on Monday, thousands of Yemenis gathered in Bab al-Yaman (The Gate of Yemen) area in the Old City of capital Sana’a to condemn US assassination of General Soleimani and Muhandis, and mourn their loss.

Speaking at the mass rally, Shami stated that their blood belongs to the entire Muslim Ummah, and that Yemeni people support any Muslim nation standing in the face of US and Israeli arrogance.

He explained that the blood of General Soleimani and Muhandis neither is Iranian nor Iraqi, but rather belongs to freedom-loving nations.

“The blood of all martyrs will turn into intercontinental missiles and weapons that will destroy American battleships and end US presence in the region,” the Yemeni information minister pointed out.

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