CAIRO, Mar 27 (Aswat Masriya) - Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi arrived to the Egyptian resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh on Friday to attend the Arab League summit.

The president, who called for an Arab intervention in his country to halt the Shi'a Houthis advances', was welcomed at the Sharm el-Sheikh International Airport by Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

Hadi left the southern coastal Yemeni city of Aden, where he has taken refuge since February, for a short stop at Saudi Arabia on Thursday.  The president travelled "under Saudi protection", sources told gulf broadcaster al-Arabiya TV, adding that he will return back to Aden after attending the summit.

Saudi Arabia launched military operations in its conflict-torn neighbour Yemen on Thursday as part of a coalition that includes 9 other countries, Egypt among them.

The operations come after the Houthis, a Shi'a rebel movement which has controlled Sanaa since last September, made advances onto the Yemeni South on Wednesday.

In January, the Houthis took control of the Yemeni presidential palace after fighting with presidential guards.

AL Secretary General Nabil al-Arabi stressed the league's "full support" for the Saudi-led operations in Yemen.  

The 26th AL summit is scheduled for Saturday and Sunday. It is the first AL summit to be held in Egypt since the January 2011 uprising which toppled the regime of former President Hosni Mubarak.

Late Thursday, Arabi announced that Arab foreign ministers have drafted a resolution to form a unified Arab force, due to be voted on during the summit.