Monday, February 15, 2010
RIYADH: Prince Khaled bin Sultan, assistant minister of defense and aviation for military affairs, urged Yemeni intruders on Saturday to hand over Saudi captives within 48 hours. “There are five captives. They have to return them and they have been given a time limit of 48 hours and I don’t want to elaborate more on this matter,” the minister said.
Speaking to reporters after opening a military spare parts exhibition in Riyadh, Prince Khaled called on Sanaa to deploy its armed forces along the country’s northern border to prevent Yemenis from infiltrating into the Kingdom. He said the Kingdom would continue to deploy its forces along its southern border with Yemen to protect the country from intruders.
The prince said the truce between the Yemeni government and the rebels was Yemen’s internal affair. “Saudi Arabia’s demands are clear to everybody,” he said, adding that Riyadh would not talk to the rebels. “We’ll not talk to any other party except through the Yemeni government,” Prince Khaled said.
He said Saudi forces had driven out all infiltrators from the Kingdom’s territory. “By the grace of God, we have achieved our first demand that no Yemeni intruder should remain in the Kingdom.
They have been driven out from the Kingdom by force in order to restore our land.” In a previous statement, Prince Khaled said that Saudi forces had detained 1,500 Yemenis during the fighting in which 109 Saudi soldiers were killed. He said no foreign troops were involved in the fight. “We have not even consulted foreign military experts. It is a war led by the Saudi leadership,” he added.
The rebels said Saturday they have pulled out of an occupied airport in northern Yemen and were preparing to release the Saudi captives. “Today, we carried out our withdrawal from the perimeter of the airport of (the city of) Saada, where a plane will land for the first time” since August, rebel spokesman Mohammed Abdel Salam told media.
He said measures are under way to hand over the Saudi captives to a mediator, Ali Nasser Kersha, a tribal official from the northern province of Saada.
RIYADH: Prince Khaled bin Sultan, assistant minister of defense and aviation for military affairs, urged Yemeni intruders on Saturday to hand over Saudi captives within 48 hours. “There are five captives. They have to return them and they have been given a time limit of 48 hours and I don’t want to elaborate more on this matter,” the minister said.
Speaking to reporters after opening a military spare parts exhibition in Riyadh, Prince Khaled called on Sanaa to deploy its armed forces along the country’s northern border to prevent Yemenis from infiltrating into the Kingdom. He said the Kingdom would continue to deploy its forces along its southern border with Yemen to protect the country from intruders.
The prince said the truce between the Yemeni government and the rebels was Yemen’s internal affair. “Saudi Arabia’s demands are clear to everybody,” he said, adding that Riyadh would not talk to the rebels. “We’ll not talk to any other party except through the Yemeni government,” Prince Khaled said.
He said Saudi forces had driven out all infiltrators from the Kingdom’s territory. “By the grace of God, we have achieved our first demand that no Yemeni intruder should remain in the Kingdom.
They have been driven out from the Kingdom by force in order to restore our land.” In a previous statement, Prince Khaled said that Saudi forces had detained 1,500 Yemenis during the fighting in which 109 Saudi soldiers were killed. He said no foreign troops were involved in the fight. “We have not even consulted foreign military experts. It is a war led by the Saudi leadership,” he added.
The rebels said Saturday they have pulled out of an occupied airport in northern Yemen and were preparing to release the Saudi captives. “Today, we carried out our withdrawal from the perimeter of the airport of (the city of) Saada, where a plane will land for the first time” since August, rebel spokesman Mohammed Abdel Salam told media.
He said measures are under way to hand over the Saudi captives to a mediator, Ali Nasser Kersha, a tribal official from the northern province of Saada.
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