KSA upset over UN accusation about hospital bombing

NEW YORK: Saudi Arabia complained on Wednesday that UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had blamed Arab coalition’s airstrikes for hitting a UN-supported hospital in Yemen before the incident had been properly investigated.
Abdallah Al-Mouallimi, the Kingdom’s ambassador to the UN, said the coalition did not carry out Monday's attack on the hospital.
In a statement on Tuesday, Ban “condemned the airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition” that hit the hospital in north Yemen's Saada province, a region controlled by Houthi forces. No one was killed in the attack.
The hospital is run by aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF).
“We regret the statement that was attributed to the Secretary-General,” Al-Mouallimi told a news conference, adding that he would contact Ban. “How was the hospital hit or damaged? We do not know and we will have a full and transparent investigation carried out by the Yemeni authorities.”
He said Saudia Arabia was aware of many other incidents in Yemen where damage had been caused to targets by Houthi artillery fire and blamed on the coalition.
“It would not be surprising if this was a similar situation. However, it would also be premature to reach any such conclusions,” Al-Mouallimi said. “The wise thing to do is to await the results of the investigation.”
He said MSF had given the coalition the correct coordinates of the hospital and it was on a list of forbidden targets. He said the nearest air operations at the time of the attack were at least 40 km north of the hospital.