The leader of Yemen's Houthis group, Abdulmalik al-Houthi, denied on Tuesday that his group had targeted Mecca in Saudi territory, as claimed by the Saudi regime.
Al-Houthi said in a televised lecture on Tuesday evening that "what the Saudi regime is reporting about the targeting of Mecca is slander, a terrible lie and an outrageous claim," adding that the Houthi forcesare announced with the utmost courage, clarity and defiance, and they are always within the moral and legitimate principles of the Yemeni people."
He added: "The fabrications targeting Mecca are not strange to the Saudi regime, which relies on falsehoods and false claims The Saudi criminal regime is known to claim lies and then to recognize facts that he had previously defied."
He added: "The source of danger to the holy sites is represented in two directions; "America, Israel and their supporters, in addition to Daesh (ISIS) elements and Takfirieen (extremist groups)."
Abdulmalik al-Houthi questioned the seriousness of Saudi Arabia in preserving Islamic holy places. He said:
"Whoever conspires against Aqsa Mosque and Palestinian people and has a key role in Trump's deal is the one who can not be trusted with the holy sites of Muslims in Mecca and Medina,"
The Houthis say all missiles it has fired at Saudi Arabia were within its response to coalition strikes on its forces and civilian targets in Yemen.
The government and the coalition say the Houthis are using its seaport to smuggle Iranian weapons, threaten maritime traffic in the Red Sea and obstruct humanitarian operations.
Yemen has been racked by armed conflict which broke out after the Houthis had ousted the internationally recognised government in late 2014.
The conflict escalated after a Saudi-led military coalition intervened militarily in the country in March 2015
Yemen is facing the world's worst humanitarian crisis, with around 22.2 million people out of 29 million population in need of humanitarian or protection assistance, according to the UN.
