Saudi rejects interference in Yemen: King

Riyadh : Saudi Arabia is determined to prevent external “interference” in neighbouring war-torn Yemen, King Salman said in an annual address yesterday.

“We will not accept any interference in the internal affairs of Yemen,” King Salman said in an address opening a new session of the Shura Council, an appointed body which advises cabinet.

Salman said his country will neither accept that Yemen “becomes a base or a point of passage for whatever state or party to menace the security or the stability of the kingdom and of the region”.

The Saudi-led coalition intervened after Huthi rebels allied with elite members of security forces loyal to Yemen’s former president Ali Abdullah Saleh seized the capital Sanaa and overran other parts of the country.

The rebels have killed at least 110 civilians and soldiers in rocket fire and skirmishes along the Saudi frontier. They have also fired longer-range ballistic missiles over the border at Saudi Arabia.

International investigators last month said they had found a suspected “weapons pipeline” from Iran through Somalia to Yemen.

British-based Conflict Armament Research, which is primarily funded by the European Union, analysed photographs of weapons including assault rifles and rocket launchers to draw its conclusions. Tehran has repeatedly denied sending arms to Yemeni rebels.

The Arab coalition, for its part, has faced repeated allegations of killing civilians, and on Tuesday the United States blocked the transfer of precision-guided bombs to Saudi Arabia.

King Salman underlined that Riyadh was open to a “political solution” in Yemen, whose security “is intrinsically linked to that of the kingdom”. 

US cancels weapons transfers

The White House has blocked the transfer of precision munitions to ally Saudi Arabia.

US officials confirmed the proposed sale was of precision guided munitions made by US firm Raytheon. 

Raytheon declined to comment. 

White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the US would not be “refocusing our efforts to support the Saudis when it comes to enhancing their border security and their territorial integrity.”

“We also are going to undertake steps to refocus our information sharing.”

A senior US administration official said that additional assistance would also focus on “training for the Saudi Air Force” to address targeting issues.

Saudi Arabia’s government had no immediate comment on the US announcement. 

Major General Ahmed Assiri, a spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen said “we don’t comment on anonymous statements.”