ABU DHABI/MANAMA/KUWAIT CITY- His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, reiterated that the UAE stands firmly and resolutely with Saudi Arabia in confronting all challenges targeting its security and stability.
He condemned in the strongest terms the firing of a ballistic missile towards the north of Riyadh by Al Houthi rebels and their allies, which the Saudi Air Defence Forces successfully intercepted and destroyed without causing any injuries.
Shaikh Mohammad said the security of the kingdom is an integral part of UAE security, and that the hand of evil “will not undermine the resolve of our brothers in the kingdom,” stressing that King Salman Bin Abdul Aziz is capable of foiling all forms of aggression and conspiracy against the kingdom and the region.
He added the attack had proved once again that launching Operation Decisive Storm was the right move, stressing his “absolute confidence in victory and the total elimination of any attempt to undermine our security and stability.”
Egypt also condemned the attack in the strongest terms, the country’s Foreign Ministry said. In a statement, the ministry said the Egyptian government and people stand with the government and the people of Saudi Arabia, and back all measures the kingdom is taking to preserve its security and stability in the face of this brutal aggression.
The Foreign Ministry said attacks that target the security and stability of the kingdom and the region will increase the resolve of the Arab coalition countries to restore the legitimacy in Yemen.
Bahrain condemned in the strongest terms the ongoing ballistic missile attacks on Saudi cities by the putschists in Yemen. “Today’s attack provides clear evidence of the arms smuggling that continues to take place in Yemen, notably through the port of Hodeida in order to undermine all exerted efforts to reach a settlement to Yemen’s crisis and destabilise the region,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. In a statement today, it called on the international community to take full control of strategic Hodeida port, which is under Houthi rebels, to put an end to the use of the port for weapons smuggling and to facilitate the access of the humanitarian aides to Yemeni people.
Meanwhile, Kuwait said Saturday it was following the missile incident with grave concern. A foreign ministry source called it “a dangerous [attack] by the Houthis and Saleh’s forces”, according to the Kuwait News Agency, KUNA.
The attack, he added, was jeopardising international efforts to reach a political solution to the bloody conflict that poses a threat to regional and international security.
Kuwait supports Saudi Arabia’s measures to preserve its security and stability.
