Saudis Probe How Defenses Failed       10/13 06:14

   

   CAIRO (AP) -- Saudi Arabia has launched an investigation to determine how 
its air defenses failed to intercept a barrage of missiles and drones fired by 
Iran-backed Houthi rebels, including an attack on Riyadh airport that killed at 
least 13 people and wounded over 300, two regional officials said Monday.

   The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not 
authorized to comment publicly, said the initial probe showed that Yemen's 
Houthis first fired multiple drones to pave the way for a mix of cruise and 
ballistic missiles to reach Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport.

   The Houthis possess ballistic missiles and advanced systems fitted with 
warheads that can change direction during flight and pose a challenge to 
Patriot interceptors and other defense systems used by the Saudis.

   One of the officials said the investigation also aims to find out why air 
defense systems did not provide earlier warning of the attack in which the 
Houthi missiles and drones flew over 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) to reach 
Riyadh.

   The incident, one of a string of Houthi attacks since last week on Saudi 
airports, has exposed vulnerabilities in Saudi Arabia's defense system and 
signaled a dangerous inflection point in an expanding Mideast conflict that 
began more than seven months ago when the U.S. and Israel launched their war 
against Iran.

   The Saudi-led coalition also said it had twice intercepted and destroyed 
ballistic missiles launched Monday by the Houthis toward Riyadh. At least three 
explosions could be heard Monday night in the city. Civil defense officials 
later said the danger had passed.

   The rebels later said they had targeted King Khalid Airport on Monday, 
warning international airlines that all Saudi airports, except those in the 
Muslim holy cities of Mecca and Medina, were unsafe.

   Earlier on Monday, the Saudi state-run media reported that its military was 
responding to a new attack involving drones and cruise missiles, but provided 
no details.

   "The events of recent weeks are serious," Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdul 
Aziz bin Salman told the World Petroleum Energy Congress in Riyadh on Monday. 
"Our response must be equally serious."

   The Saudi government-run Center for International Communication, which 
oversees foreign media, did not immediately respond to a request for comment 
about the probe into defense failures.

   Saudi officials want more US help in countering Houthi attacks 

   The Saudis want the U.S. to become more directly involved in their fight 
against the Houthis. The U.S. has provided intelligence sharing, target 
identification and planning for a Saudi-led offensive, but has held off on 
carrying out strikes against the Houthis.

   A U.S. intervention could prompt the Houthis to try to halt shipping through 
the Bab el-Mandeb Strait at the southern end of the Red Sea off Yemen, 
restricting the flow of oil out of the Persian Gulf.

   The flow of Mideast oil has already been complicated by Iranian efforts to 
choke off the Strait of Hormuz, where about one-fifth of the world's oil flowed 
before the U.S.-Iran war began.

   The rebels seized key areas along the Bab el-Mandeb last month. The 
Saudi-led coalition, backing forces aligned with Yemen's internationally 
recognized government, has been trying to retake them.

   U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters on Saturday after the deadly 
airport strike that he was looking at the possibility of carrying out U.S. 
attacks against the Houthis.

   Trump said Monday that he had spoken with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin 
Salman, but didn't offer any details about the call. He also said the Houthis 
were "misbehaving very badly," but didn't say anything about whether the U.S. 
would respond to the rebels.

   Later on Monday, when asked if the U.S. will defend Saudi Arabia after 
Houthi attacks, Trump said, "You'll find out soon."

   The conflict comes at a delicate time for Trump, just weeks before U.S. 
midterm elections that will decide if his Republican Party keeps control of 
Congress.

   Persistent inflation and high gas prices fueled by the ongoing conflict with 
Iran have driven widespread American disapproval of that war. Expanding U.S. 
military involvement in the region risks further stoking voters' resentment.

   Houthis say Saudis launch new attacks 

   Yemen's Houthi-run health ministry said Monday that airstrikes on a 
government complex and a house in the northern province of al-Jawf killed nine 
people, including five children and a woman, and wounded seven others, 
according to the Houthi-controlled SABA news agency.

   Houthi officials also said that Saudi Arabia carried out new strikes on the 
Yemeni capital of Sanaa, killing one person and wounding 12.

   Ministry spokesperson Anees al-Asbahi said 107 Yemenis have been killed by 
the Saudi-led coalition since Sept. 3, and 278 were injured. Over 60% of 
casualties were women and children, he said.

   The Riyadh airport remained closed on Monday and workers in the capital's 
financial district were told to work from home.

   However, the Saudis on Monday continued with the second day of the World 
Petroleum Energy Congress.

   UAE diplomat suggests Gulf allies respond to Houthis jointly 

   Separately, an Emirati diplomat on Monday called for "joint Gulf action" to 
defend against attacks by Iran and its allied groups.

   Anwar Gargash, a diplomatic adviser to the rulers of the United Arab 
Emirates, said Iran and its allies wrongly assessed that Gulf Arabs were "the 
weakest link" in the U.S. war against Iran, during which Tehran and its allies 
repeatedly attacked Arab countries on the other side of the Gulf.

   "It has become clear that we are all targeted, and that our security is 
indivisible," he wrote on social media.

   Iran's Foreign Ministry on Monday expressed concern about fighting between 
the Saudis and Houthis and said Iran would be ready to settle disputes.

   "We are severely concerned about developments in the Arabian Peninsula," 
spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said at his weekly briefing. "We have many times 
announced readiness for applying our good offices in order to facilitate talks 
between the two sides."

   Baghaei said Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and his Saudi counterpart, 
Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud, spoke by phone on Sunday about the situation 
but did not offer details.

   Funeral held for Jordanian killed in airport attack 

   Dozens of mourners attended the Monday funeral for a Jordanian killed in the 
missile strike on King Khalid International Airport.

   Mahmoud Al-Barqawi, 33, who worked in a Riyadh cafe and was the father of 
two children, was buried after a funeral procession began at a mosque in Amman.

   His father, Hasan al-Barqawi, said the family was struggling to cope.

   "No one can truly feel the pain of this tragedy," he said.

   The strike also wounded four Jordanian citizens.

   Jordan's Royal Court chief Yousef Al-Issawi attended the funeral, offering 
condolences on behalf of the king and crown prince.