STC accuses Saudi Arabia of financing al-Qaeda elements in Abyan

ABYAN, Sept. 14 (YPA) – Media leaders in the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) accused on Tuesday Saudi Arabia of supporting al-Qaeda organization elements in Abyan province, southern Yemen.

This came, coinciding with the break out of disputes between Riyadh and the STC, after Saudi Arabia hinted at zeroing all the council’s recent military and political measures in the southern provinces.

The prominent journalist affiliated with the STC, Hussein al-Hanashi, said that a special Saudi committee reached Modiyah district, the birthplace of the former Interior Minister, Ahmed al-Maisari, a leader in the Islah party, with the aim of delivering new support to the terrorist factions stationed in the central areas of the province.

Al-Hanashi pointed out that the Saudi committee directed the payment of huge sums of money to members of one of the al-Qaeda factions in Abyan called “Hazmiya Brigade.”

These accusations come, in light of the escalation of al-Qaeda attacks on the STC forces in Abyan during the past days, and a few days after Saudi Arabia admitted the existence of joint coordination between the Islah party and al-Qaeda.

YPA