Local Editor
Qatari Defence Minister Khalid bin Mohammed al Attiyah stated that his country was forced to join the Saudi-led coalition which has been bombing Yemen since 2015.
“We are ... a member of the GCC and at [the same] time, we have our own opinion on how to solve the situation in Yemen. We always believe in dialogue. We always believe in development as the shortest way to solve issues such [as] the one in Yemen,” Defence Minister Khalid bin Mohammed al Attiyah said during an interview with TRT on Tuesday.
Al Attiyah added “unfortunately, we find ourselves obliged to join the coalition. And we’ve never been inside Yemen by the way; we’ve been defending the border of Saudi ... But after the recent aggression on Qatar, they asked us to leave the border of Saudi Arabia, which we did, and all our soldiers are back.”
When asked about Doha’s role in the Yemeni crisis, the Qatari official replies: “I think looking into the role of Qatar very closely, even by an investigative authority, I think you’ll find out that we’ve never been engaged in any operation which comes near or in a field of operation where there [are] civilian deaths.”
Saudi Arabia has been leading a destructive military campaign against Yemen since March 2015 to reinstate former president Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi and crush the Houthi movement.
The campaign has seriously damaged the country’s infrastructure. Local Yemeni sources have put the death toll from the Saudi war at over 12,000, including many women and children.
Source: Yemenwatch.net
