UAE Denies Running ‘Secret Prisons’ In Yemen

The United Arab Emirates on Tuesday denied running secret prisons in southern Yemen following claims from Saudi-backed Yemeni officials that widened a rift between the Gulf powers.

A defence Ministry in a statement said the allegations are “deliberate fabrications” and a blatant attempt to advance political agendas at the expense of truth.

AFP reports that Monday’s claims from Hadramawt province followed clashes between UAE- and Saudi-backed forces that prompted Abu Dhabi to withdraw its remaining troops from Yemen.

It added that Saudi Arabia and the UAE, the Gulf’s biggest economies, joined forces to fight Yemen’s Iran-sponsored Houthi rebels in 2015 but ended up backing opposing camps in the south.

The rivalry came to a head after an advance by UAE-backed separatists in Hadramawt and Mahra provinces last month was pushed back by Saudi air strikes and allied ground forces.

Meanwhile, on Monday, Hadramawt’s governor told foreign media invited by the Saudi-backed Yemeni government, including AFP, that “a number of secret prisons used by Emirati forces” had been uncovered.

The UAE defence Ministry said the facilities referred to are merely military accommodation, operations rooms and fortified shelters, some of which are located underground, adding that the attempt to implicate the United Arab Emirates in such allegations raises serious questions about the true motives and parties behind the promotion of these falsehoods.

Saudi Arabia is now attempting to shore up control in government-controlled southern Yemen, while northern areas, including most of Yemen’s population, remain under the Houthis.