Yemen's President Abdrabbuh Mansour
Hadi has arrived in Saudi Arabia's capital Riyadh, officials say, as a
Saudi-led coalition continues to launch air strikes against Shia Houthi
rebels.
It is the first confirmation of his whereabouts since Wednesday, when he fled rebel forces in the city of Aden.
The officials say he will go to Egypt for an Arab league summit on Saturday.
The Saudi authorities began air strikes in Yemen on Wednesday night, a step Iran called "dangerous".
During
the second night of raids warplanes again targeted rebel positions in
Yemen's capital Sanaa and an air base near the southern port city of
Aden.
Reports say there were civilian casualties.
Clashes were also reported in Aden between troops loyal to President Hadi and the rebels.
Saudi Arabia says it is "defending the legitimate government" of Mr Hadi.
Legitimacy
Mr Hadi took refuge in Aden last month after fleeing Sanaa, where he
had been under house arrest since the Houthis took full control of the
capital in January.
On Thursday, a Saudi official said he had
travelled to Riyadh, but would attend the two-day Arab summit in Egypt
as the "legitimate" Yemeni president.
On Wednesday, the Saudi ambassador to the US, Adel al-Jubair, announced the beginning of the air strikes.
"We will do whatever it takes in order to protect the legitimate government of Yemen from falling," he said.
Reports said Saudi Arabia was using 100 warplanes in the operation, and its allies would contribute dozens more.
Saudi-owned
Al-Arabiya TV reported that the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Jordan,
Morocco and Sudan were sending aircraft, while Egypt, Jordan, Sudan and
Pakistan were ready to take part in any ground offensive targeting the
Houthis.
The US said it was providing "logistical and intelligence support".
However, a Houthi official warned the coalition that it risked provoking a wider war.
At the scene: BBC reporter near Sanaa
Following the air strikes, people rushed to the military sites which had been targeted to check the level of destruction.
Dozens of families meanwhile have fled Sanaa to safe places outside the city, fearing new air strikes.
There are long queues of cars at petrol stations amid fears of fuel
shortages, and many shops and firms have shut. School and university
classes in Sanaa have been suspended for the time being.
Some
Sanaa residents see the air strikes as a way of ending the crisis, which
they blame on the Houthis for taking over their city.
However
angry Houthi followers and supporters of the former president, Ali
Abdallah Saleh, called for protests against the attacks.
On social
media, Houthi supporters have been urging them to keep advancing to the
border and storm Saudi Arabia, and to blockade the strategic Bab
al-Mandab Strait in the Red Sea. Shia
power Iran, which Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia accuses of backing the
rebels, also demanded an immediate halt to the strikes, which it said
violated Yemen's sovereignty.
But Turkey has accused Iran of trying to dominate the region.
President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he supported the operation against the
Houthis, adding Iran's stance had begun "annoying us, Saudi Arabia and
the Gulf countries".
"This is really not tolerable and Iran has to see this," he said.
A conflict that pulls in regional powers could disrupt global oil supplies, and the price of Brent crude rose almost 6% after the strikes began.
Media reports said at least 13 civilians were killed in Sanaa during
the first day of the air strikes, and 18 people were killed in clashes
between rebel fighters and soldiers and militiamen loyal to Mr Hadi in
southern Yemen.
Yemeni Foreign Minister Riad Yassin told the Saudi
TV channel al-Hadath that the air strikes were welcome, adding: "I hope
the Houthis listen to the sound of reason. With what is happening, they
forced us into this."
The Houthis have said their aim is to
replace Mr Hadi's government, which they accuse of being corrupt, and to
implement the outcomes of the National Dialogue that was convened when
Mr Saleh was forced to hand over power in 2011 following mass protests.
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