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UAE Denies Report it is Running Secret Prisons in Yemen | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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UAE-backed forces in Yemen. (Reuters)


Abu Dhabi – The United Arab Emirates strongly denied a recent report that claims that it was running secret prisons in war-torn Yemen, reported the Emirates News Agency (WAM).

The Foreign Ministry and International Cooperation said in a statement: “What is stated in the report is completely untrue. It is nothing more than a political game through which the militias and the parties affected by the efforts of the Arab Coalition to fight the terrorist organizations seek to discredit the Coalition, which originally entered Yemen in order to save the people of Yemen.”

The Ministry statement said that the UAE, as a part of the Arab Coalition, does not administer or supervise any prisons in Yemen, noting that “This is within the jurisdiction of the Yemeni legitimate authorities.”

The Coalition forces provide training to Yemeni cadres in accordance with the best legal practices, the statement added according to WAM.

The UAE played a central role in its close cooperation with local Yemeni forces in expelling al-Qaeda from the southern part of the country, it continued.

One of the terrorist group’s most ruthless franchises, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, was directly responsible for the murder of hundreds of government officials, local police and innocent Yemeni civilians, the statement added.

“The UAE has provided billions of dollars in direct assistance to Southern Yemen, helping to provide safety and security, restoring water and power systems, repairing schools and hospitals and distributing food aid,” the ministry statement said.

The UAE military in Yemen respects the international conventions of war and conflict, it said, reiterating, “The UAE maintains no secret detention centers and does not torture prisoners.”