Yemeni forces prepared to thwart US, Israeli plots against national resources, islands: Top council

The Yemeni Supreme Political Council says the country’s Armed Forces are prepared to stand up to any bids by the US and the Israeli regime that would be directed at Yemen's resources, islands and waterways.

“Yemeni Armed Forces are prepared to confront the avaricious plots of the United States and the Israeli regime against the country's resources, islands and waterways. They are ready to face up to any threat against the national sovereignty,” the council announced in a statement on Monday, stressing the full combat preparedness of Yemeni soldiers and fighters from Popular Committees.

This came as a report said in September that a delegation of Israeli military experts had apparently been stationed to the Yemeni island of Socotra, more than six months after it was reported that the United Arab Emirates was constructing a settlement on the strategic island to accommodate dozens of Israeli soldiers, officers and military experts.

The Arabic-language Yemen Press Agency, citing informed sources speaking on condition of anonymity, reported that an Israeli military delegation along with a number of UAE intelligence officers have been present on Socotra Island since a few days ago.

Home to some 60,000 people, Socotra overlooks the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a main shipping route that connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea. It has a unique ecosystem.

Israel and the UAE are currently making all logistical preparations to establish intelligence bases to collect information from across the Gulf of Aden, including Bab el-Mandeb and south of Yemen, which is under the control of forces backed by the UAE, the report said.

This is while the US is also making aggressive attempts to wrest control over energy reserves and plunder natural resources in conflict-plagued Yemen.

In the Monday statement, the council also said that it will “adopt proper measures when the time is ripe, and will not allow the Saudi-led coalition of aggression to get Yemen caught in an endless cycle of chaos and uncertainty.”

“We once again reiterate that we are striving for an honorable peace that would ensure Yemen’s sovereignty and independence, and would safeguard its territorial integrity. We welcome any meaningful and viable initiative in this regard,” the council added.

Read more:

• Top Ansarullah official blasts US for obstructing peace efforts in Yemen

The Yemeni Supreme Political Council also underlined the need that humanitarian issues must be separated from political and military matters. “Progress in this regard will strongly indicate the success of any future mediations, negotiations or contacts.”

Meanwhile, Yemeni Minister of Human Rights Ali al-Dailami has strongly condemned the US and Britain over obstructing prosecution of criminals involved in offenses against his nation.

He said in a statement that certain Western powers and the UN Security Council are impeding efforts aimed at opening Yemen’s human rights file, as they are the parties that trade in the blood of Yemenis.

“The Security Council and its mechanisms represent part of the problems facing moves meant to expose the violations and crimes of the Saudi-led coalition,” Dailami noted.

“More than 170 Arab and international organizations have in separate statements called for holding the member states of the Saudi-led coalition accountable for their crimes in Yemen,” the Yemeni minister of human rights pointed out.

Read more:

• Top Yemeni official urges UAE to withdraw from Socotra Island immediately

Saudi Arabia launched the devastating war on Yemen in March 2015 in collaboration with its Arab allies and with arms and logistics support from the US and other Western states.

The objective was to reinstall the Riyadh-friendly regime of Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi and crush the popular Ansarullah resistance movement, which has been running state affairs in the absence of a functional government in Yemen.

While the Saudi-led coalition has failed to meet any of its objectives, the war has killed hundreds of thousands of Yemenis and spawned the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

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