RIYADH: A group of Yemeni poets held a poetry recitation session here Tuesday night to mark the first allegiance anniversary of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman and to express gratitude for his firm defense of legitimacy in their country.

“They wanted to show their appreciation to King Salman for rescuing their country from the Iran-backed Houthi rebels and their allies, the former president and his forces,” said Dr. Omar Bamahsoon, a former legal adviser to the chairman and director of the legal department at the National Commercial Bank, whose seminar, Thaloothiat Bamahsoon hosted the session.

At midnight on March 26, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman ordered the launch of a massive military operation — Decisive Storm — on Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen in anticipative action to defend the Kingdom and free Yemen from them and the forces of the ousted former president Ali Abdullah Salih, in addition to assisting the internationally recognized Yemeni government of President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi to regain control of his country.

At the same time the King ordered the establishment of King Salman Center for Relieve and Humanitarian Works with allocation of SR2 billion to provide humanitarian aid to Yemenis hit by the conflict in their country.

The poets, some residents of the Kingdom and some who came especially from Yemen, included Hadramaut Gov. Dr. Adil Bahumaid, Abdullah Al-Juaidi, and Mabrook Madi.

Dr. Bahumaid, in his composition titled “No amnesty,” highly praised King Salman’s prompt action to help Yemen, and demanded giving no amnesty to the Houthi rebels or Saleh or his forces, requesting instead to protect the Yemeni people from the oppression of Houthi-dominated territories.

Al-Juaidi, in his composition titled “Izz Al-Riyadh (Glory of Riyadh)” depicted King Salman as the glory of Kingdom because of his many humanitarian deeds. “These deeds included dealing justly and fairly with the great issues of the nation and sound implementation of Islamic Sharia law to face oppressors and support oppressed, “ he said.

Also, Mabrook, in his composition titled “Salman the sword of justice,”expressed his overwhelming love to King Salman admitting his inability to describe his many attributes of the King. “Shall I mention his courage to side the truth or shall note his ability to defeat oppressors, or shall I stress his ability to support justice?” he said.

The organizer of the event, Dr. Bamahsoon, told Arab News that the hosting of the recitation session in his seminar came in response to demands of the participants and the followers of the seminar, especially on social media, as all the activities of the seminar are transmitted life on the media.

“The main focus of seminar, since its establishment 25 years ago, was economy and only economy. But this time we have broken the rule and focused on poetry, allocating this session for King Salman in the eyes of Yemeni poets in response to those requests,” he said.

“We timed the recitation session to coincide with the marking of King Salman allegiance day to express our abundant appreciation to the king for his firm and glorious stand from the Yemeni plight caused by illegal Houthi rebel control of Yemen and the overthrow of its legitimate government,” he added.

“We believe that King Salman much more because of his glorious actions in his first year both internally and externally. He proved to be a very great leader who enabled us to raise our heads high among nations. And because Arabs, especially Saudis, who like to express this pride in their leaders by poems, this recitation session has come, “ he further added.