Houthis Under Pressure in Yemen as U.A.E. Denies Missile Claims
- Reported attack comes after Saleh breaks from Houthi coalition
- U.A.E. says air defense strong enough to withstand threats
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Yemen’s Houthi rebels, bruised by the defection of their powerful ally, former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, said they fired a ballistic missile at a nuclear power plant in Abu Dhabi, but the United Arab Emirates denied the show of force ever happened.
The rebels produced no evidence to back up their claim, which was reported by the Houthi-affiliated al-Masirah TV station. Another disputed claim surfaced hours later with the release of a statement attributed to Saleh’s General People’s Congress party, suggesting he had reconsidered his decision to break with the rebels. A party leader, Fa’eqah Alsaid, said the statement was fake and that the party website had been hacked.