UAE vice president to visit Saudi Arabia
The UAE's vice president will visit Saudi Arabia on Tuesday following an invitation from the defense minister, state media said, for a rare high-level meeting amid a months-long rift over Yemen.
In July, top officials and ministers from both countries began posting messages on social media about friendship and unity, signaling a rapprochement months after a public fallout over the UAE's role in Yemen.
Last December Riyadh accused Abu Dhabi of threatening its national security by supporting southern Yemeni separatists who orchestrated a brief offensive.
"His Royal Highness Prince Khalid bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Minister of Defense, extended an invitation to his brother, His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Vice President of the sisterly United Arab Emirates, Deputy Prime Minister and Head of the Presidential Court, to visit the kingdom tomorrow, Tuesday," the Saudi defense ministry said in a statement.
The UAE's official news agency WAM said Sheikh Mansour had accepted and would travel to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday for a "brotherly visit".
During their July detente, Saudi General Entertainment Authority chairman Turki Alalshikh posted a picture of Prince Khalid alongside Sheikh Mansour that he said was taken a few days ago.
The Saudi olive branch comes as the kingdom reels from weeks of attacks by Yemen's Houthis on its tankers, oil facilities, airports and even its capital, with the group taking control of the Red Sea coast from Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces.
Riyadh has for weeks been reaching out to international allies for help against the Houthis.
A source from the office of the leader of Yemen's government previously told AFP that he had requested American support against the Iran-backed Houthis in a call with U.S. President Donald Trump.
The New York Times said Saudi Arabia's crown prince had also called Trump "to implore him, again" to help counter the group's advances, but media outlet Axios has reported that Trump rebuffed a similar request earlier this month.
On Friday, the military chiefs of staff from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan held talks on how to support Riyadh as the Houthis ramp up attacks on the world's top crude exporter.
Saudi Arabia and the UAE have been at odds on foreign policy for some time, from Yemen and Sudan to the Horn of Africa, where they have supported rival forces.
Source: Agence France Presse
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