SHARM AL-SHEIKH: Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi has fired his powerful predecessor’s son as ambassador to the UAE, a Yemeni official told Reuters.

Ahmed Ali Saleh and his father, former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, wield major influence in army units fighting alongside the Houthi militia.

President Hadi departed on Thursday from his last base in Aden and is currently in Saudi Arabia.

Alarabiya.net earlier reported that Saleh’s son approached Saudi authorities two days before Operation “Decisive Storm” but his proposals were rejected

Two days before the operation, Ahmed Saleh approached Saudi authorities offering to turn against the Houthi militia in return for immunity for him and his father, said the Alarabiya report.

During the talks in Riyadh, the son requested protection for him and his father and the lifting of UN sanctions placed on the former Yemeni president who stepped down in 2012.

The son had offered in return to launch a coup against the Houthis, using some 5,000 special security forces loyal to Saleh and 100,000 members of the Republican Guards, said the AlArabiya report.

But the Saudi response was a flat out rejection, according to the information, cited by Alarabiya.