He’s designated a terrorist by the US, shares the same ideology as al-Qaeda, yet for more than three years, Abu al-Abbas, a Yemeni commander who controls most of the flashpoint city of Taiz, has been receiving financial and military support from the United Arab Emirates, sources told Al Jazeera.

After purging the Houthis from Taiz’s eastern districts and killing dozens of Houthi fighters, al-Abbas’ forces now patrol the city’s streets with high-tech US weaponry, arresting dissidents, reportedly carrying out extrajudicial killings, and instilling fear in the local population.

Sources in the southwestern city have told Al Jazeera that the Kataib Abu al-Abbas (Abu al-Abbas battalion), has crushed any group that opposes its strict interpretation of Islam – including al-Islah, the Yemeni branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, as well as secular and pro-democracy activists.

Al-Abbas, whose real name is Adil Abduh Fari Uthman al-Dhubhani, reportedly received more than 40 pick-up trucks from the UAE last year, worth an estimated $600,000, the sources said, despite him being sanctioned by the US for allegedly financing al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and the Yemeni branch of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS). 

The sources added that based on communiques issued by al-Abbas, he continued to receive political support from the UAE, including close military coordination with Emirati forces based in Aden.

The information appeared to corroborate previous investigations by Al Jazeera (Arabic link), and reports by local journalists that the UAE was continuing its support for al-Abbas and his cadre of followers in its fight against the Houthis.

Al-Abbas and his Salafists are pragmatic and the Emiratis know this. They have a zero understanding of politics and can be ordered around and will blindly follow

Maysa Shuja al-Deen, non-resident fellow at the Sanaa Center for Strategic Studies

‘The German tank’

Nicknamed “the German Tank” in his youth due to his competitive nature on the football field, al-Abbas was first introduced to Yemeni authorities in 2011 when he, and a group of Sunni Salafist students at the Dar al-Hadith seminary in Dammaj, began fighting against the Houthis.

The Houthis, who follow the Zaydi branch of Shia Islam, had accused the Salafists, who follow a strict interpretation of Sunni Islam, of smuggling weapons into the seminary and attempting to proselytise the local Zaydi community.

After three years of protracted fighting, the town and the seminary were overrun by the Houthis in 2014 when they launched their offensive across central and southern Yemen.

Concerned that the Houthis were Iranian proxies looking to turn Yemen into a Shia stronghold, a coalition of Arab states launched a military offensive in March 2015 that included a massive aerial campaign.

The Houthis denied wanting to turn Yemen into a religious theocracy, telling Al Jazeera that their decision to topple President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi’s government stemmed from his decision to slash fuel subsides in the summer of 2014, his failure to address Houthi demands during a failed National Dialogue, and his decision to push back long-awaited elections.

When al-Abbas fled from Dammaj to Taiz, sources said he immediately established the Sunni militia named Hummat al-Aqidah (Protectors of the Faith) in an attempt to rally support against the rebel takeover of the city.

Relying in sectarian rhetoric, his nascent group quickly began to grow. Within a few months, he would boast that thousands of fresh recruits had joined his group and that he managed to secure a significant number of victories over the Houthis in the eastern districts of Taiz city.

With his popularity on the rise, President Hadi appointed al-Abbas to the rank of colonel, despite the 47-year-old never attending a military institution or graduating from school.

According to multiple sources, it was shortly after this ascendency that al-Abbas began receiving financial and military support from the Saudi and UAE military.

The sources said that al-Abbas had formed a close relationship with Hani bin Braik, a former minister of state and current vice president of the Southern Transitional Council (STC) – a movement demanding secession for southern Yemen.

Al-Abbas’ forces were supplied with at least three trucks of weapons and ammunition, and his group was incorporated into the Security Belt – a UAE-funded force that has been accused by rights groups of arbitrary detentions and abductions.

His forces commandeered state institutions as well as the Mogamma Hael school for girls, which to this day is continued to be use as base for their operations.

‘Why are they helping terrorists?’

Mohammed*, a member of the National Union in Taiz, said the Security Belt had knowingly recruited fighters from al-Qaeda and other armed groups, ignoring pleas from local residents.

“We immediately rejected the Security Belt because it recruited men from al-Qaeda,” said Mohammed.

“Look at what they did in Aden, look at all the assassinations happening there, the violations and the complete failure of the Security Belt to bring security and stability.

“Yemen has a military police and a national army which needs to be supported to do their jobs. Why is the UAE giving a helping hand to terrorist organisations?”

The UAE has denied co-operating with al-Qaeda and designated al-Abbas a “terrorist” in conjunction with the US, Saudi Arabia and Qatar in October 2017.

But there have been several reports, some as early as February 2016, of UAE-backed forces coordinating with al-Qaeda affiliates in the battle for Taiz. 

An Al Jazeera report from earlier this year found that when al-Qaeda left Mukalla city in 2016, their “sudden, bloodless withdrawal,” came after an agreement was brokered with the Saudi-UAE alliance.

In July, Khaled Baterfi, a senior al-Qaeda leader, said his group had reduced attacks against Hadi’s and UAE-backed forces because assailing them would benefit the Houthis.

The US, which provides the Saudi-UAE alliance with billions of dollars worth of military equipment, has long admitted that al-Qaeda had infiltrated anti-Houthi ranks.

A senior US official told reporters in Cairo that the alliance had backed militias with “hardline Islamic commanders”, and it was “very, very easy for al-Qaeda to insinuate itself into the mix”. 

Nicholas Heras, a Middle East Security Fellow at the Center for a New American Security, said despite al-Abbas being a “militant Salafist”, he “fit perfectly into the UAE’s scheme in Yemen”.

“The UAE quietly continues to support Abu al-Abbas because he is a power-broker in one of Yemen’s most important and strategic cities and can mobilise a lot of local men to fight against the Houthis,” Heras said.

Al-Abbas wants to dominate Taiz and make it a model Islamic society according to his Salafist beliefs, and the Emiratis are willing to support him as long as he agrees to support them.

Nicholas Heras, Middle East Security Fellow at the Center for a New American Security

‘They will blindly follow’

Maysa Shuja al-Deen, a non-resident fellow at the Sanaa Center for Strategic Studies, said al-Abbas’ willingness to embrace al-Qaeda and other hardliners was due his simplistic understanding of the war-ravaging the country – a Sunni-Shia divide – one that fits the Salafist narrative and would be easily accepted by the Emiratis.

“Al-Abbas and his Salafists are pragmatic and the Emiratis know this,” she said. “They have a zero understanding of politics and can be ordered around and will blindly follow.”

In turn, this would allow the UAE to attain three of their objectives in the city, she said. 

“First, the UAE is reluctant to support the liberation of Taiz because it might give rise to al-Islah, a group it has listed as a terrorist organisation.

“Second, fighting in Taiz allows the alliance to discredit the Houthis, by claiming that the Houthis are not fighting for patriotic or nationalist reasons, but are instead fighting for their own interests at the expense of other Yemenis.

“Third, Taiz is geopolitically problematic. It’s connected culturally, demographically and politically to both Sanaa and Aden. This would cause a headache for the alliance where it to be completely liberated from the Houthis.

“Therefore, the alliance are waiting for the war to end, then they will decide to partition Yemen into a federal state of three-four regions, not a north and south Yemen, otherwise Taiz would cause major issues for the Emiratis.”

Residents told Al Jazeera that after more than a year of being designated as a “terrorist”, al-Abbas continued to control key government buildings and issue declarations on behalf of the alliance.

According to one document given to Al Jazeera, when al-Abbas was asked to cede territory to the Yemeni government, he reportedly contacted Emirati officials in Aden who in-turn told the Yemeni government to back-off.

Platform on prime-time Emirati TV

While the UAE entered Yemen’s war to restore Hadi’s government, sources said it had become more entrenched in the conflict and had repeatedly undermined president Hadi’s rule.

According to several human rights groups, the UAE trained, financed and armed militias across the country’s south, set up secret prisons, and created a security establishment which answers to Aidarous al-Zubaidi, the leader of a secessionist movement backed by Abu Dhabi.

“Al-Abbas works just as well as a local partner for the Emiratis as South Yemen secessionist leaders do,” Heras said.

“Because al-Abbas, like the South Yemen secessionists, is playing his own game on a local level, they [the Emiratis] know he needs the support of an outside power to win that game.

“Al-Abbas wants to dominate Taiz and make it a model Islamic society according to his Salafist beliefs, and the Emiratis are willing to support him as long as he agrees to support them.”

Abdul Aziz Jabari, Yemen’s former deputy prime minister, said in an interview last year that he had once complained to President Hadi that armed groups in Taiz were “refusing to follow the government’s orders,” and were instead “receiving orders from Emirati officials”.

Jabari resigned from his post earlier this after accusing the UAE of preventing Hadi from returning to Aden where his temporary government is based.

Despite the UAE’s decision to classify al-Abbas as terrorist, sources said the Gulf nation was still treating him as a legitimate Yemeni leader.

In August, state broadcaster Abu Dhabi TV characterised him as a “victim of al-Islah” when he was invited to participate in a phone interview one of it’s prime-time shows.

Al-Abbas repeatedly lashed out at al-Islah in the interview, and in an earlier report accused the Muslim Brotherhood group of corruption and nepotism.

Since al-Abbas’ claims first emerged in 2016, al-Islah’s Aden branch said it had been repeatedly targeted by unidentified “militias”.

In a statement it said nine of its leaders had been assassinated, four arbitrarily detained, and raids had been carried out on the party’s headquarters and on Islahi members’ homes.

One Yemeni official told Al Jazeera that one of al-Abbas’ closest aides, Adel al-Ezzi, was responsible for several assassination attempts on al-Islah members, and al-Abbas decision to banish him to Aden in September could have been an attempt to mediate a truce.

Al-Ezzi reportedly led the “single wolves” battalion, a unit which was responsible for a series of attacks blamed on ISIL’s branch in Yemen.

“We’ve noticed a trend where the UAE supports extremist militias instead of the national army,” said Burhan*, a government official based in Taiz.

“Instead of supporting the local authority represented by Taiz’s governor Ali Al-Mamari and Major General Khalid Fadhel, the Emiratis are turning to militias, something we simply don’t need,” he added.

The names of Mohammed* and Burhan* were changed due to security concerns 

Follow Al Jazeera’s Faisal Edroos on Twitter: @FaisalEdroos

Nineteen leaders of the world’s biggest economies and a representative of the European Union are set to meet on Friday and Saturday in Buenos Aries, Argentina as part of the G20 summit. 

This year, all eyes will be on a range of issues including a high-stakes meeting between US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping and the potential signing of the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). 

Many are also watching to see is Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) chooses to attend. His potential appearance is expected to be met with protests over the murder of Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi. 

Other demonstrations are also expected in the lead-up to the annual meeting. 

Here are all the latest updates: 

Wednesday, November 28

AP Analysis: Will Saudi crown prince be a pariah at G20?

All eyes will be on Prince Mohammed later this week as he heads to Buenos Aires for the Group of 20 summit.

At issue is the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi and allegations that the crown prince ordered his killing inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul last month. There will be leaders who won’t want to get caught in a grip-and-grin situation with the Saudi prince.

It’s a photo opportunity that could cause serious ripples, even disgust, and have concrete repercussions at home by appearing to exonerate or legitimise the man US intelligence agencies concluded ordered the killing.

That won’t be a problem for President Donald Trump, who drew bipartisan ire in the US Congress for effectively giving the prince a free pass in the name of “America First,” based on the president’s vastly exaggerated claims of Saudi military contracts and investments in the US.

It may well be that Trump will go out of his way to embrace the de facto Saudi leader as others scurry away, treating him as a pariah.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has kept international pressure mounting on Saudi Arabia, is also expected to attend. The crown prince has requested a meeting with Erdogan on the sidelines of the summit, according to Ankara.

MBS leaves Tunisia to Argentina to attend G20: report

Reuters news agency is reporting that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman left Tunisia for Argentina to attend the G20 summit, where all eyes will be on world leaders’ reaction to the man accused of ordering Khashoggi’s murder.

The prince left Tunisia early on Wednesday, Reuters quoted Al-Arabiya’s website as saying.

The crown prince’s G20 attendance is a bold effort to force the issue of whether world leaders will work with Saudi Arabia, analysts say. Riyadh is also indicating with his appearance in Buenos Aires that Prince Mohammed is back in the saddle and the worst of the controversy is over.

Human Rights Watch requested that Argentine authorities arrest the crown prince and that he be tried by a court for war crimes in Yemen and Khashoggi‘s killing.

Tuesday, November 27 

Trump: I may cancel Putin meeting at G20 over Ukraine conflict

US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he may cancel his scheduled meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G20 summit in Argentina because of Russia’s maritime clash with Ukraine.

“Maybe I won’t have the meeting. Maybe I won’t even have the meeting … I don’t like that aggression. I don’t want that aggression at all,” Trump told the Washington Post in an interview.

White House adviser says China-US trade deal still possible

White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said on Tuesday that US President Donald Trump will have a dinner meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the upcoming G20 gathering in Argentina and also held open the possibility that the two countries would reach a trade deal.

“There is a good possibility that we can make a deal and he is open to it,” Kudlow, the National Economic Council director, told a press briefing, referring to Trump.

No plans for Trump-MBS meet at G20: Bolton 

US National Security Advisor John Bolton said President Donald Trump had no plans to meet Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at this week’s G20 summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina. 

White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said that while no meetings are planned, she could not rule out any interaction between Trump and Prince Salman. 

Trump will meet leaders of Russia, Japan, Germany, Argentina at G20

US President Donald Trump will have bilateral meetings with the leaders of Argentina, Russia, Japan and Germany when he and the American delegation go to Argentina for the Group of 20 summit later this week, a White House spokeswoman said on Tuesday.

Trump is also expected to meet separately with China’s Xi Jinping for the first time since the world’s two largest economies imposed tariffs on each other’s imports.

No plans for a Trump-May meeting at G20

British Prime Minister Theresa May has no specific plans for a bilateral meeting with US President Donald Trump at the G20 meeting later this week, her spokesman said on Tuesday.

On Monday, Trump stoked concerns among some of May’s lawmakers about her Brexit deal by saying he thought it was good for the EU and may make trade between Washington and London more difficult.

May’s office disputed that, saying it would allow Britain to sign trade deals with countries throughout the world.

Monday, November 26

Trump says he expects to raise China tariffs: WSJ

US President Donald Trump said on Monday he expects to move ahead with raising tariffs on $200bnin Chinese imports to 25 percent from 10 percent currently.

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Trump said it was “highly unlikely” he would accept China’s request to hold off on the increase.

Trump, who is due to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G20 summit in Buenos Aires this week, said if negotiations are unsuccessful he would also put tariffs on the rest of Chinese imports.

Questions swirl over Saudi crown prince’s G20 meeting in Argentina

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed arrived in Egypt on Monday, the third leg of his first trip abroad since the murder of prominent Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey last month.

Prince Mohammed is expected to travel to Tunisia after his two-day visit to Egypt before heading for a G20 meeting in Buenos Aires.

Last week, Nader Hashemi, director of the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Denver, said all eyes will be on MBS as world leaders gather for the G20 meeting from November 30 to December 1 in Argentina

Hashemi noted the Argentina trip puts Prince Mohammed in possible legal jeopardy under the policy of universal jurisdiction under international law.

“If there is a case brought against the Saudi crown prince for war crimes or murder by another court that is considered to be credible then an indictment can be issued against him when he arrives in Buenos Aires. So, I suspect this is something his lawyers and advisors are looking into,” Hashemi told Al Jazeera.

Kiev, Ukraine – Thirty days of martial law will take effect in 10 of Ukraine’s 27 regions on Wednesday with President Petro Poroshenko saying it aims to prevent an all-out Russian invasion.

The measure that affects regions closest to Russia’s military bases – the first ever martial law during the four-year conflict – was approved by parliament on Monday, a day after a clash between Ukraine and Russian forces in the Sea of Azov, but it lacks one last signature.

Andriy Parubiy, chairman of Verkhovna Rada – the Ukrainian parliament – said on Tuesday in Brussels he would sign it on Wednesday, which will kick-start the implementation of the largely symbolic legislation.

The Kremlin has condemned the development saying martial law will escalate the conflict that saw Moscow seize three Ukrainian ships and capture 24 crew members off the coast of the Russian-annexed Crimean peninsula.

A court in Crimea ordered 12 of the Ukrainian sailors to be detained for two months, the TASS news agency reported on Tuesday.

Volodymyr Fesenko, director of the centre for political studies Penta, told Al Jazeera martial law was “for now more like a preventative measure”.

But in case of any “manifestations of the Russian aggression”, Ukraine would be able to respond militarily,  he said.

“It will not affect the day-to-day life of ordinary people,” said Fesenko. 

Why now?

Poroshenko, who critics allege initiated martial law to postpone Ukraine’s March 31 presidential elections, said on local TV station Ukraina on Tuesday that Kiev had to resort to it to save the country.

“Ukraine is facing a threat of a full-scale war with the Russian Federation,” he said.

Asked why Kiev did not impose martial law when Crimea was annexed by Moscow in 2015 and the Russian-backed rebels seized parts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, Fesenko told Al Jazeera “it was hard to say”.

“At that time, the law enforcement agencies and majority of the government were simply disorganised and demoralised,” he said. “Also Ukraine’s international partners advised Kiev against it.”

Fesenko rejected the pro-Russian theory that Ukraine might have provoked the latest flare-up and exaggerated it with martial law to prevent the Russia-backed violence that killed more than 10,000 people in the country since 2014.

The Sea of Azov conflict on Sunday that saw Russia temporarily close the Kerch Strait came two months after Poroshenko announced the creation of a new naval base in the area between Crimea and Russia.

He made the move after two Ukrainian warships – the search and rescue ship A500 Donbas and the seagoing tug A830 Korets – on September 23 passed through the strait for the first time without incident. The vessels used to be part of the country’s Black Sea fleet.

The country lost much of its navy after the annexation of Crimea when Russia seized Ukraine’s ships.

Economic hit

The developments of the last few days have affected the Ukrainian currency as markets reacted to the tension.

Hryvnia lost five percent of its value, but the situation is temporary, according to Pavlo Kukhta, deputy chairman of Strategic Advisory Group at the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine.

“It is typical for a situation like this. Psychological reactions happen when risks are higher, but it does not really affect the economy in a major way,” he told Al Jazeera.

Kukhta also said since Russia has already reopened the Kerch Strait for commercial shipments, the effect of the conflict is also expected to be limited in the Mariupol region’s port from where Ukraine exports one-quarter of its metals.

Ukraine’s economy suffered a major blow when it lost control over Crimea and parts of Luhansk and Donetsk as many industrial factories are based in the territory. But the country has weathered its worst days, according to Kukhta, with economic growth at an average European rate of 3.5 percent this year.

Follow Al Jazeera’s Tamila Varshalomidze on Twitter: @tamila87v

BERLIN – Chalk another one up for Vlad.

By the time Western officials had figured out what and where the Kerch Strait was, the Russian leader had sewn up his naval operation, taking around two dozen Ukrainian sailors prisoner (shooting and wounding at least three of them), and impounded their vessels. Not bad for a Sunday outing.

Meanwhile, over in the EU cocoon, Germans debated whether the United Nations refugee compact would be legally binding and the French squabbled over the price of gasoline. And the U.S.? Lost somewhere in Trumpland.

In case there were any lingering doubts over the efficacy of Western efforts to rein in Russia, Moscow’s latest aggression made it pretty clear that the attempts to coax Vladimir Putin into de-escalating the confrontation with Ukraine have failed. No degree of sanctions, German-led “dialogue,” or even genuflection has made much of an impression on the Russian leader.

Arguably, the situation has gotten worse; the more brazen Putin becomes, the more helpless the West appears.

The fecklessness of Europe’s response is remarkable, even by its admittedly modest standards.

“To be perfectly honest, we don’t have many options,” a senior European official said. “We don’t want to risk war, but Putin is already waging one. That makes us look weak.”

Given Europe’s dearth of options, its leaders revert to hackneyed pronouncements about the importance of dialogue and, as German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas put it, “de-escalation on both sides.”

Though Maas, who has been more critical of Russia than his recent predecessors, also called on Moscow to end its blockade, he implied that both parties are somehow to blame.

The notion that the Russia-Ukraine conflict is the diplomatic equivalent of a he-said-she-said spat is a narrative often reflected in European media coverage, especially in Germany. “Russia accuses Ukraine of provocation,” read a headline on Spiegel Online, one of Germany’s most-read news portals, the morning after the attack.

The facts tell another story.

Unless one accepts that Crimea is now Russian sovereign territory, there’s no basis for the claim that the Ukrainian vessels were in Russian territorial waters.

If, as Ukrainian officials and Western diplomats claim, the captured ships were heading back to their port in Odessa, having failed to pass through the Kerch Strait because of the Russian blockade, Moscow’s justification for the attack would be even less convincing.

While the details of such confrontations are often difficult to discern in the fog of the moment, the fecklessness of Europe’s response is remarkable, even by its admittedly modest standards.

“Developments on Azov Sea are unacceptable,” EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said via Twitter, nearly a full day after the events transpired.

Jean-Claude Juncker, who earlier this year called for an end to “Russia-bashing,” has so far been silent.

What about Europe’s most powerful leader?

Russia has created facts on the ground that Europe, in typical knee-jerk fashion, wants to counter with more dialogue.

“The chancellor stressed the necessity of de-escalation and dialogue,” Angela Merkel’s spokesman said after the German leader spoke to Putin on the phone.

As for the Russian leader, his spokesman said he would comment “when he deems it necessary.”

But what is there left to say? After all, Putin has achieved his goals.

Sunday’s showdown wasn’t random, it was the culmination of a yearslong strategy to assert control over the Azov Sea, a process that the West largely ignored. Remember the high-level outrage over Russia’s construction of a bridge over the Kerch Strait, despite Ukrainian protests that it would further constrict trade and access to Mariupol, a regional hub in the east of the country? No? That might be because there was none.

So Putin continued to push the limits, harassing Ukrainian ships through the strait, while quadrupling the size of Russian naval forces in the area.

Again, nary a peep from the West.

Now, Russia has created facts on the ground that Europe, in typical knee-jerk fashion, wants to counter with more dialogue. French and German officials have suggested a meeting in the “Normandy format,” the very same four-way talks between Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany that have failed for years to yield any progress.

At a gathering of European foreign policy and security officials in Berlin last week attended by Maas, German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen and other senior figures, much of the discussion revolved around the recent buzz over a “European army.”

Even for those unnerved by the fraying transatlantic relationship and convinced Europe needs to invest more in its security, the news from the Azov Sea offered a jarring reality check.

“At times like this, I’m happy we don’t have a European army,” a German official said. “Putin has proved that he’s in control.”

Lion Air pilots struggled to maintain control of their Boeing jet as an automatic safety system in the plane repeatedly pushed the plane’s nose down, according to a draft of a preliminary report by Indonesian officials looking into last month’s deadly crash.

Investigators are focusing on whether faulty information from sensors led the plane’s system to force the nose down.

The new Boeing 737 MAX 8 plunged into the Java Sea on October 29, killing all 189 people on board.

The New York Times reported that information from the Lion Air jet’s flight data recorder was included in a briefing for the Indonesian parliament and reported by Indonesian media.

Indonesian authorities are expected to release their preliminary findings later on Wednesday, although it is unclear whether they will offer a probable cause for the crash.

The MAX 8, the latest version of Boeing’s popular 737 aircraft, includes an automated system that pushes the nose down if a sensor detects it is pointed so high the plane is at risk of an aerodynamic stall.

‘Deadly game of tag’

Peter Lemme, an expert in aviation and satellite communications and a former Boeing engineer, described “a deadly game of tag” in which the plane pointed down, the pilots countered by manually aiming the nose higher, only for the sequence to repeat about five seconds later.

That happened 26 times, but pilots failed to recognise what was happening and follow the known procedure for countering incorrect activation of the automated safety system, Lemme told The Associated Press.

He said he was also troubled that there weren’t easy checks to see if sensor information was correct, that the crew of the fatal flight apparently wasn’t warned that similar problems had occurred on previous flights, and the Lion Air plane wasn’t fixed after those flights.

“Had they fixed the airplane, we would not have had the accident,” he said. “Every accident is a combination of events so there is disappointment all around here.”

Boeing did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The company said last week it remains confident in the safety of the 737 MAX and had given airlines around the world two updates to “re-emphasise existing procedures for these situations”. The US regulator has also issued a directive on the MAX 8 and 9 models.

More than 200 MAX jets have been delivered to airlines around the world.

The investigation is continuing with help from US regulators and Boeing.

The plane’s cockpit voice recorder, which would provide more information about what happened in the cockpit, has yet to be found.