Saudi Arabia backs call for UAE to leave Yemen after strike on separatist-held port

The UAE denies Saudi claims it sent a shipment of weapons to separatists and pushed them to launch offensives against the Yemeni government.

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The Saudi foreign ministry accused the UAE of "pressuring" the Southern Transitional Council (STC), which seeks independence for southern Yemen, to launch recent offensives in the eastern provinces of Hadramawt and al-Mahra.

The kingdom would take measures to confront what it considered such "highly dangerous" actions, it warned.

The UAE's foreign ministry denied that the shipment contained weapons and expressed "deep regret" at the Saudi statement.

It strongly condemned "the allegations that it exerted pressure on, or directed, any Yemeni party to carry out military operations that would undermine the security of the sisterly kingdom of Saudi Arabia or target its borders".