Saudi Arabia draws red line in Yemen, warns UAE-backed forces to leave in 24 hours: ‘Kingdom will not hesitate to…’ | Today News

Saudi Arabia expressed its disappointment over the "brotherly United Arab Emirates'" support for a separatist offensive in Yemen and warned on Tuesday that any threat to its national security is a red line.

Calling the UAE's actions "highly dangerous", Saudi Arabia said, “...the Kingdom will not hesitate to take all necessary steps and measures to confront and neutralise any such threat.”

Earlier on Tuesday, Saudi Arabia bombed Yemen's port city of Mukalla over what it described as a shipment of weapons for a separatist force there that arrived from the United Arab Emirates, the Associated Press reported.

The kingdom later directly linked the UAE to the separatists' recent advances in Yemen. The attack signalled a new escalation in tensions between Saudi Arabia and the separatist forces of the Southern Transitional Council (STC), which is backed by the Emirates.

It said, "The steps taken by the UAE are considered highly dangerous, inconsistent with the principles upon which the Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen was established, and do not serve the coalition's purpose of achieving security and stability for Yemen."

"In this context, the Kingdom stresses that any threat to its national security is a red line, and the Kingdom will not hesitate to take all necessary steps and measures to confront and neutralize any such threat," the ministry warned.

"With this regard, the Kingdom hopes that wisdom, the principles of brotherhood, good neighborliness, strong ties among countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council, and the interest of brotherly Yemen, will prevail," the ministry said.

"The Kingdom also hopes that the brotherly United Arab Emirates will take the necessary steps to preserve bilateral relations between the two brotherly countries, which the Kingdom is keen on strengthening, and continue joint efforts towards all that leads to the wellbeing, prosperity and stability of countries in the region," it added.

1. Mukalla is in Yemen's Hadramout governorate, which the Council had seized in recent days. The port city is some 480 kilometers (300 miles) northeast of Aden, which has been the seat of power for anti-Houthi forces in Yemen after the rebels seized the capital, Sanaa, back in 2014.

2. A military statement carried by the state-run Saudi Press Agency announced the strikes, which it said came after ships arrived there from Fujairah, a port city on the UAE’s eastern coast.

The Saudi-led coalition said the two ships from the UAE port of Fujairah arrived on Saturday and Sunday without its authorisation.

After arriving in Mukalla, the vessels disabled their tracking systems and unloaded large quantities of weapons and combat vehicles to support the Southern Transitional Council (STC), it added.

Two sources told Reuters that the strike targeted the dock where the cargo of the two ships was unloaded.

3. The attack likely targeted a ship identified by analysts as the Greenland, a roll-on, roll-off vessel flagged out of St. Kitts. Tracking data analysed by the AP showed the vessel had been in Fujairah on December 22 and arrived in Mukalla on Sunday. The second vessel could not be immediately identified.

4. The strike in Mukalla came after Saudi Arabia targeted the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council in airstrikes on Friday that analysts described as a warning for the separatists to halt their advance and leave the governorates of Hadramout and Mahra, Reuters reported.

5. Following the Mukalla attack, Yemen’s anti-Houthi forces later declared a state of emergency on Tuesday, ending its cooperation with the UAE and ordering all Emirati forces within its territory to evacuate within 24 hours.

The leader of Yemen's presidential council cancelled a Joint Defence Agreement with the United Arab Emirates. It issued a 72-hour ban on all border crossings in territory they hold, as well as entries to airports and seaports, except those allowed by Saudi Arabia.