Cairo: A Yemeni expatriate had been arrested in Saudi Arabia for glorifying a recent attack by Yemeni Al Houthi rebels on an energy facility in the kingdom, a police official has said.
The man whose age was not revealed had glorified in a video clip posted on social media a “terrorist” attack on an oil distribution station belonging to the Aramco Company in the Saudi port city of Jeddah, spokesman for the Mecca police added.
“His identity was established. He is a Yemeni resident who has been arrested and referred to the competent agency,” said the official.
In the past few days, Al Houthis have ramped up their cross-border attacks against Saudi Arabia despite a call by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which comprises the kingdom, to host inter-Yemeni talks later this month to resolve Yemen’s long-standing conflict.
A Saudi-led Arab coalition said on Saturday it had initiated a military operation against the rebel targets in the Yemeni capital Sana’a and the port city of Hodeidah to neutralise threats to energy facilities.
Saudi Arabia has repeatedly said that Al Houthis’ attacks target stability of global energy supplies.
Earlier this month, the six-nation GCC said it had invited Yemeni sides to talks under the grouping’s sponsorship in the Saudi capital Riyadh slated for March 29 and April 7.
The talks, according to the GCC, seek to unify inter-Yemeni ranks in support of legitimacy and state institutions in the war-ravaged country. The initiative received unqualified backing from the Saudi-backed Yemeni government, while the Iran-aligned Al Houthi militia gave a conditional approval of the invitation, demanding such talks be hosted by any “neutral” country not linked to an ongoing Saudi-led military campaign against the rebels in Yemen.
The rebels have plunged Yemen into a devastating war after they unseated the internationally recognised government and seized some parts of the impoverished country including Sana’a in late 2014.
In 2015, a Saudi-led military coalition started a campaign in Yemen against the rebels in response to a request from the legitimate government there.
