OIC condemns Houthi attempt to launch missile toward Makkah

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation has condemned in the strongest terms Yemen’s Houthi rebels, backed by the militias of deposed president Ali Abdullah Saleh for targeting the holy city of Makkah with a ballistic missile.
The executive committee of the OIC held an emergency ministerial meeting on Saturday to discuss the serious developments represented by the launching of the missile by the Houthi-Saleh militias.
The meeting denounced the rebels and those who provide them with arms including rockets and missiles to target Makkah. 
The meeting termed it an act of aggression against the holy sites in Saudi Arabia, “which is a provocation for world Muslims and evidence of their refusal to comply with the international community and its demands.”
The largest Muslim bloc reiterated the statements made by regional and international organizations slamming the aggression, “which seeks to undermine security and stability of the holy sites and to thwart all efforts being made to end the conflict in Yemen peacefully.”
The OIC representatives affirmed member states’ support for Saudi Arabia in its fight against terrorism and all those attempting to cause harm to the Kingdom or trying to target its religious places.
It also affirmed solidarity with the Kingdom in its efforts to preserve its security and stability. 
The organization called on member states to unite against “this heinous aggression.” 
The OIC members were urged to act against those supporting the culprits with arms, considering that “an infringement upon the Kingdom’s security is an infringement upon the security and cohesion of the Muslim world as a whole.”
The meeting affirmed that those backing the Houthi-Saleh militias, supplying them with ballistic missiles and weapons, are devoted accomplices in aggression against the holy sites of the Muslim world.
It called them key sponsors of terrorism and a clear party seeking to sow dissent and fuel sectarian discord. “If they continued with that policy, that would lead to instability and undermine the security of the Muslim world,” said the representatives.
The meeting requested that all member states and the international community to take serious and effective measures to prevent the recurrence of such aggression, and to hold accountable those trafficking deadly arms and training the rebels. 
It recommended holding an emergency foreign minister-level meeting of the member states in Makkah in the next two weeks to discuss the deplorable targeting of Makkah.
The meeting requested the secretary-general take all measures in order to implement this resolution, and to notify the United Nations and regional organizations thereof, and submit a report at the next ministerial meeting.
Meanwhile, the UN special envoy for Yemen is discussing a peace plan with both sides in the conflict during his second visit to Sanaa in less than a week.
The UN said in a statement that Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed will meet with members of the diplomatic corps and others to discuss ways to alleviate the humanitarian suffering and assess the best ways to address the country’s economic crisis.
“Negotiating peace frameworks is a tremendous undertaking under the best of circumstances,” added the envoy. “It requires an unequivocal determination of the parties to reach a negotiated settlement to put Yemen on the path to peace and that’s what we are aiming for.”

Source: Arab News