Feb 12, 2024. Posted by Balkan Periscope - Hellas
Djibouti
has rejected a US request to allow missile launchers to be installed in the
country to target Yemen.
Djibouti’s President Ismail Omar Guelleh confirmed, in a news statement, that his country is closely following the recent developments in the Bab al-Mandab region and the Gulf of Aden, affirming Djibouti’s keenness to secure the Red Sea and the strategic strait and remove obstacles to international trade.
He stressed
Djibouti’s refusal to target any party from its territory, noting that the
international military bases in the country aim to maintain international peace
and security, and combat terrorism and maritime piracy, as well as to protect
navigation in this important strategic location in the world.
“We are
following with great concern the war that has been ongoing since October 7 in
Gaza, and as we have expressed on more than one occasion, we affirm our strong
rejection of the siege, barbaric killing, and terrifying destruction of
infrastructure that our brothers are subjected to in Gaza,” Djibouti’s
President said. “We are calling on the international community to assume its
responsibilities and provide protection for the defenseless Palestinian people
who are subjected to the worst kind of killing and forced displacement.”
He revealed
British, Saudi, American and French contacts to protect navigation and confront
the security challenges troubling the region.
Guelleh’s
statements come after reports of the arrival of American reinforcements to its
most important base in Bab al-Mandab as part of arrangements for an attack
against Yemen.
Meanwhile,
sources familiar with the matter revealed the coming of the Commander of the US
Central Command to Djibouti, in parallel with the arrival of reinforcements to
the Lemonnier base, where about 4,500 US soldiers are stationed.
The
American moves coincide with the failure of its efforts to stop Yemeni
operations in the Red Sea, despite the passage of a month of American-British
air and missile attack on Yemeni cities.
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