Arab Daily: Saudi Claim about Ansarullah’s Missile Strike on Mecca Mocked by Muslims
Rai al-Youm newspaper run by renowned Arab analyst Abdel Bari Atwan wrote on Tuesday that the allegations against Ansarullah and Ali Abdullah Saleh, the former Yemeni president, are unwise and illogical since they are not “stupid” to incite the enmity of 1.5bln Muslims.
“Some states might think that most Islamic governments are stupid (to believe the attack) but the Muslim nations or most of them are not so,” it added.
Rai al-Youm referred to the extraordinary upcoming meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Mecca on Thursday to study the alleged missile strike, and said the meeting will be held as Ansarullah has dismissed targeting Mecca both in the past and future.
On October 27, the Yemeni army and Ansarullah fighters fired a Borkan-1 (Volcano-1) missile towards King Abdulaziz International Airport, located 19 kilometers North of the Western Saudi port city of Jeddah.
A military source, speaking on condition of anonymity, later told the official Saba news agency that the 12.5-meter-long missile had targeted its target accurately and left massive destruction at the airport.
Saudi media outlets, however, reported that the kingdom’s missile systems intercepted and destroyed the solid propellant and Scud-type missile before it could cause any damage.
The Saudi military also claimed that the Yemeni missile was fired toward the holy city of Mecca, but the Houthi Ansarullah movement has rejected the claim.
“Saudi Arabia always makes unbelievable claims about everything, but no one cares about these allegations,” Dr. Mostafa Behnam, a senior expert of Saudi affairs, said.
