Crucially, King Salman wanted none of it to look sectarian or to be traced back to Riyadh. In short, Saudi Arabia wanted to fund one side of a sectarian line while keeping its name off it. A January 2012 cable to the Special Committee of the Saudi Council of Ministers signed by Saudi Arabian King Salman bin Abdulaziz. Also Read Houthis target Saudi Aramco sites in retaliation for airstrikesWar that backfiredThe plan to quietly fracture the Houthis failed. A decade on, the Houthis still control most of Yemen and the cables surfaced just as Saudi Arabia and Ansarallah appear to be sliding back toward open conflict.