Yemen's powerful ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh, a key ally of the country's dominant Houthi movement, called for an escalation of attacks against their common enemy Saudi Arabia on Sunday.

 

Saleh, a politician who retains influence over Yemen's military, spoke a day after an apparent Saudi-led air attack on a meeting hall in the capital Sanaa killed at least 140 people, according to local health officials cited by the United Nations.

 

Sources in the Saudi-led coalition denied any role in the attack.

 

"I call upon all the sons of this nation ... to face this aggression with all their strength and you must proceed to the battlefronts," Saleh said in a televised speech.

 

"The defense ministry, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff and the interior ministry must put in place the necessary measures for battle readiness at the fronts on the (Saudi) border."