Yemen leader: UAE brought us Daesh and killed 32 clerics

The southern leader and member of the Yemeni National Dialogue Conference (NDC), Ali al-Bajiri revealed that the UAE forces in the country killed 32 Yemeni clerics and brought a Daesh leader to Yemen.

In an interview with the Qatari Al-Sharq newspaper on Sunday, Al-Bajiri said that the UAE brought a Daesh leader, Abu Bakr Al-Zakhri, from Iraq to Yemen to create a nucleus for Daesh in Yemen to be used as a pretext for maintaining its forces and military presence.

He added that Abu Dhabi has killed 32 Yemeni clerics since its forces entered the country following the intervention of the Saudi-UAE coalition in March 2015. It has also established more than 13 prisons and detention centres to be used for the enforced disappearance of young people.

READ: Hundreds of Daesh suspects released by Syria’s SDF

In response to a question about UAE plans to create chaos thereby setting up bases for Daesh and Al-Qaeda, Al-Bajiri replied: “Certainly, after nearly four years, the UAE’s plans in Yemen are obvious to all.”

He added that “everyone is aware that the UAE came to Yemen with aim of destroying the state (…) through the establishment of regional and tribal Yemeni belts, and the formation of militias loyal to it and which follow its orders and instructions.”

Al-Bajiri said in a related context that “today, the (Arab) coalition constitutes a heavy burden on Yemenis, especially after its colonial ambitions emerged, and it turned out that its goal is limited to the destruction of Yemen.”

With regard to Saudi Arabia, he said that “some of the wise, old, and experienced people who run the kingdom’s policy died and others were driven out of the scene by the planning and instigation of (Abu Dhabi Crown Prince) Mohammed bin Zayed.”

Al-Bajiri pointed out that bin Zayed did so “so that he can control and manage the Saudi decision, and there is ample evidence at the level of Yemeni level which proves this.”