Two 'Saudi spies' among three sentenced to death in Yemen

SANAA: A court in Yemen’s rebel-held capital sentenced three people to death on Saturday, including two for spying for Saudi Arabia, a news agency controlled by the Huthis said.

Two men were sentenced by the criminal court in Sanaa for “providing information to a foreign state and co-operating with aggressor state Saudi Arabia between 2015 and 2016,” the Saba agency reported.

A third man was sentenced for belonging to Al-Qaeda, Saba said.

The press agency did not specify whether the three convicts were present in court or if they were tried in absentia.

The Huthi rebels have controlled Sanaa and large swathes of the north and west of Yemen since 2014.

The Huthis are fighting forces loyal to an internationally recognised government, which since March 2015 have been bolstered by a military coalition led by Saudi Arabia.

The conflict has claimed 10,000 lives, wounded more than 54,000 and provoked what the UN describes as the “worst humanitarian crisis in the world.”