Alwaght- Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the US says his country will continue to hit its southern neighbor, Yemen, with cluster bombs.
Responding to reporter of the Intercept news site who asked Prince Abdullah al-Saud “will you continue to use cluster weapons in Yemen?”, the Saudi top diplomat said “This is like the question, ‘Will you stop beating your wife?’” Al-Saud responded, letting loose a bellowing laugh.
During an annual Arab-U.S. Policymakers Conference — bankrolled by oil companies Chevron, ExxonMobile, and ConocoPhillips, and weapons contractors Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, and Boeing — the Saudi ambassador was surrounded by reporters asking questions about his country’s aggression against Yemeni people.
Reporters continued to ask different questions on the issues, when the ambassador grew tired of their persistence. “You are political operators!” he accused. “I’m not a politician.”
During the conference he mentioned the issue by claiming that the Saudi-led coalition bombing Yemen had “righteousness, legitimacy, a lot of support,” and would keep bombing “no matter what it takes,” he told the audience, which included U.S. military officials as well as defense contractors and oil executives.
“If anyone attacks human lives, and disturbs the border, in whatever region, we’re going to continue hitting them, no matter what,” said al-Saud.
“Anyone who wants to solve the Yemen problem should understand who is making all the problems,” he said, ducking Saudi responsibility for the suffering in Yemen. “We will not at all allow anything to develop in the future like this no matter what it takes.”
Saudi Arabia began bombing Yemen in March 2015 to forcefully reinstate his ally Rabbah Mansur who had resigned as the Yemeni president and took refuge in Riyadh.
Saudi Arabia has since been responsible for more than 10,000 deaths in the conflict, according to the U.N. The coalition has repeatedly targeted civilian sites, including homes, farms, factories, markets, hospitals, and children’s schools.
