THE six-member Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) led the condemnation of Thursday's ballistic missile launched by Yemen's Houthi militia toward the holy city of Makkah. The GCC council said the Houthi attack on Makkah is "evidence of their refusal to comply with the international community and its decisions". Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed of the United Arab Emirates, a member of the coalition and the GCC, pointed the finger at Iran, which backs the Houthis. "The Iranian regime is supporting a terrorist group that fires its rockets on Makkah. Is this an Islamic regime as it claims?" he tweeted. Bahrain condemned on Friday the firing of the missile toward Makkah in a statement sent to Al Arabiya News Channel saying that "the targeting of the holy site presents a direct insult toward Muslims everywhere and constitutes a hate and religious crime from the militias' part. Qatar responded by saying that launching of the ballistic missile attack on Makkah hampers the efforts to resolve the Yemeni crisis peacefully. The Shoura Council slammed the missile attack. Sheikh Abdullah Al-Asheikh, president of the Council, said the blatant attack supported by the Iranian regime's agents in Yemen is a violation for the sanctity of the House of Allah. "This criminal act is hurting the feelings of more than one billion Muslims around the world," he said adding that such acts will reinforce the Kingdom's determination to deter and root out anyone who tries to attack its security and the safety of its citizens. Condemning the attack, Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit said it represents an unacceptable violation of the sanctity of the holy lands. "This work is a serious escalation committed by the Houthi militias," he said in a statement. The Arab Coalition fighting in Yemen said on Thursday that it destroyed the missile 65 km (40 miles) from the holy city before it could do any damage, and retaliated against the launch site inside Yemen, said the statement, carried on Saudi Press Agency. The missile was fired from Saada province toward Makkah, the coalition said. Makkah is home to the most sacred sites in Islam, including the Grand Mosque. The Houthis confirmed the launch of a Burkan-1 ballistic missile into Saudi Arabia in a statement on their official news agency, but said it had been aimed at King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah, the Kingdom's busiest airport. The coalition has been fighting Houthi rebels and forces loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, who control much of the north of Yemen including the capital Sanaa, since March 2015 to try to restore the internationally recognized president Abdrabbu Mansour Hadi. — With input from Agencies
