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UAE-SAUDI-DEFENCE-DIPLOMACY
Saudi, UAE talk military cooperation after Yemen rebel truce offer
ABU DHABI, Oct 7, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Top officials from Saudi Arabia and the
UAE, key players in a coalition fighting Yemeni rebels, have discussed
military cooperation following a positive response by Riyadh to a truce offer
from the insurgents.
Saudi’s deputy defence minister Prince Khalid bin Salman met with Abu Dhabi
Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan in the UAE capital to
discuss “coordination and joint action in defence and military affairs”,
Emirati state news agency WAM reported on Monday.
The two officials, who spoke late Sunday, also discussed the “challenges”
facing the Gulf region and “their implications on the security” of the
region, WAM said.
Last week, Prince Khalid said on Twitter that a truce offer made last month
by Yemen’s Huthi rebels was “perceived positively” by the kingdom and hoped
it would be “implemented effectively”.
Since 2015, Riyadh has led a military coalition in support of Yemen’s
internationally recognised government against the Iran-backed Huthis.
The conflict has killed tens of thousands of people, most of them
civilians, according to humanitarian organisations, and left Yemen faced with
what the UN terms the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
The Huthis offered to halt all attacks on Saudi Arabia as part of a peace
initiative to end the devastating conflict, later repeating their proposal
despite continued air strikes from the Saudi-led coalition.
The offer came after the Huthis claimed responsibility for attacks on
September 14 against two key Saudi oil installations that temporarily knocked
out half of the OPEC giant’s production.
Riyadh and Washington, however, blamed Iran for the attacks — a charge
denied by Tehran.
BSS/AFP/GMR/1417 hrs