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Washington Responds to Attack on Mecca: We Are Ready to Deter Any Threat | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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AFP photo shows destruction in Yemen.


Riyadh, Aden-The U.S. reiterated on Sunday its condemnation of the ballistic missile launched last Thursday by Yemeni rebels against the Holy city of Mecca and which the Saudi Air Defense intercepted.

Lincoln Frager, a spokesman of the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh, told Asharq Al-Awsat that targeting Saudi Arabia with ballistic missiles was “unacceptable and provocative,” adding that the U.S. is “ready to work jointly with the Saudis to deter and confront any foreign threat for the safety of its regional territories.”

Also, the French Foreign Ministry said on Sunday that it condemns the attack on the Holy city of Mecca, describing what happened as a “provocation that undermines the trust needed to revive the political operation” in Yemen.

French Foreign Ministry Spokesman Romain Nadal said in a statement that his country calls on all parties to resume negotiations for a political solution as the only way to put an end to the dispute, reiterating his country’s full support for the efforts of U.N. Special Envoy to Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed.

Meanwhile, the Yemeni government has confirmed in a press statement published by the official Yemen News Agency that it fully supports President Abed Rabbuh Mansour Hadi’s decision to reject the new political roadmap presented by Ould Cheikh Ahmed during their meeting in Riyadh on Saturday.

Yemeni rebels also issued a statement saying they had some reservations concerning the new roadmap presented by the U.N. envoy. The rebels uncovered their request to “form a presidential institution including a presidential council and a national unity government,” the statement said.

The insurgents also reiterated their old-new demand that coalition forces stop their airstrikes and that they lift the so-called siege of Yemen, referring to the U.N. sanctions.