Yemen rebels disperse protests demanding slain leader's body

SANAA, Yemen – Yemeni rebel forces have dispersed a protest staged by dozens of women in the capital, Sanaa, demanding the handover of the body of slain former President Ali Abdullah Saleh for burial.

Wednesday's protests took place outside a rebel-run hospital where the body has been kept since he was killed on Monday by his onetime allies, the Iran-backed Shiite rebels known as Houthis.

Witnesses say the protest lasted less than an hour before rebel forces violently dispersed it. They spoke on condition of anonymity, fearing reprisals.

Clashes erupted between Saleh's forces and the Houthis last week. A Saudi-led coalition, which has been at war with the rebels since March 2015, threw its support behind Saleh and launched a blistering wave of airstrikes on Sanaa.