U.A.E. Denies Yemen Rebels Fired Missile at Abu Dhabi Nuclear Plant
U.A.E. Denies Yemen Rebels Fired Missile at Abu Dhabi Nuclear Plant
By SHUAIB ALMOSAWADEC. 3, 2017
Houthi fighters in Sana, Yemen, on Sunday. Credit Mohammed Huwais/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
DEAD SEA, Jordan — Yemen’s Houthi rebels on Sunday said they had fired a cruise missile at a $20 billion nuclear power plant under construction in Abu Dhabi, but the United Arab Emirates’ state-run news agency denied the claim.
A statement on the Houthi website said the missile took aim at the “strategic” Barakah nuclear reactor on Saturday, “successfully hitting its target.” The launch was in retaliation for the closing of sea and air ports, it said.
The statement quoted a Houthi leader who warned against continuing the blockade, “affirming Yemenis’ right to take sensitive steps.”
The missile launch could not be independently confirmed. On Twitter, the United Arab Emirates’ state agency, WAM, denied the Houthi rebels had launched the missile toward the United Arab Emirates.
In another post on Twitter, WAM said, “U.A.E. possesses an air defense system capable of dealing with any threat of any kind and the project of Barakah reactor is immune.”
It is the second time this year that the Iran-aligned Houthis have said they fired a missile toward the United Arab Emirates since the Gulf States, led by Saudi Arabia, began an air campaign against the rebels who had toppled the Gulf-allied president of Yemen, Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, in 2015.
The Barakah nuclear power plant being built in Abu Dhabi’s western desert. Credit Arun Girija/Emirates News Agency, via Associated Press
A few months ago, the Houthis said they had “successfully” test-fired a missile toward Abu Dhabi.
The claim on Sunday comes amid heavy fighting in Yemen’s capital, Sana, between the Shiite Houthi rebels and some of their former allies, who are led by former President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
The war in Yemen has created one of the world’s largest humanitarian catastrophe, unleashing a looming famine, outbreaks of cholera and other calamities.
Mr. Saleh, who stepped down in 2011 after a mass uprising against his 33 years in office, had made an alliance with the Houthis, but fractures emerged between the former leader and the rebels, further exacerbating the crisis.
In a televised speech on Saturday, Mr. Saleh blamed the Houthis’ “idiocy” for the war in Yemen and declared he was ready to turn a “new page” in ties with the coalition if it stopped attacks on his country — a move that could pave the way to end the war.
“I call upon the brothers in neighboring states and the alliance to stop their aggression, lift the siege, open the airports and allow food aid and the saving of the wounded and we will turn a new page by virtue of our neighborliness,” Mr. Saleh said.
In a statement carried by the Saudi-owned Al-Hadath news outlet, the coalition appeared to welcome Mr. Saleh’s remarks, saying it was “confident of the will of the leaders and sons” of Mr. Saleh’s political party to return to the fold.
The apparent shift came as Mr. Saleh’s supporters battled Houthi fighters for a fourth day in the capital. A senior security officer at the Ministry of Interior in Sana said that about 80 people have died and at least 140 more have been injured since fighting broke out.
The coalition accuses Iran of trying to expand its influence into Arab countries, including Yemen, which shares a long border with Saudi Arabia, by aligning with the Houthis. Airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition, which includes the United Arab Emirates, have targeted the Houthi rebels.
The Houthis, in turn, have accused Mr. Saleh of betrayal, and vowed to keep up the fight against coalition.
The nuclear power plant, in Abu Dhabi’s far western desert, is being built by the Korea Electric Power Corporation near the border with Saudi Arabia and is scheduled to begin operating next year, the United Arab Emirates energy minister has said, according to The Associated Press.
The claim of a missile strike on Saturday comes after Arab news media had reported hours earlier that Israel had fired missiles at a military base being built near the Syrian city of al-Qiswa, southwest of Damascus, destroying an arms depot.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the missiles had struck positions of the Syrian government and its allies southwest of Damascus.
The rights group’s leader, Rami Abdul Rahman, said the missile had targeted a military base near Kesweh, south of Damascus. Mr. Rahman said it was not clear whether the warehouse was operated by the Syrian Army, Iran or the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah.
Israel has not commented on the reports. But it previously acknowledged carrying out repeated air and missile strikes in Syria since the beginning of the war six years ago to stop arms deliveries to Hezbollah.
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