RIYADH — Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Minister of Defense Khalid Bin Salman called the Kingdom’s relationship with the United Arab Emirates the “cornerstone” of regional stability.

“The strong brotherly relations between the Kingdom and the UAE, and their leaderships, may God protect them, and the close cooperation between the two countries in various fields, is the cornerstone for the security, stability and prosperity of the region, in the face of projects of extremism, chaos, sedition and division,” Prince Khalid Bin Salman said in a tweet on Monday.

Prince Khalid’s comments came following an announcement by Saudi-led Arab Coalition that a joint committee has been formed between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to stabilize the cease-fire in the Yemeni provinces of Shabwa and Abyan.

“Today, we work together with our brothers in the UAE to achieve security and stability in Aden, Shabwa and Abyan, and we will continue to unify our fronts and join our words to face the terrorist threat, whether it be the Iranian-backed Houthis or Al-Qaeda and ISIS,” Prince Khalid tweeted.

He added that they would continue to provide support to the Yemeni people so that security and stability prevail throughout Yemen.

“Internal dialogue, not infighting, is the only way to resolve Yemen’s internal differences. There is a distinction between those who disagree for the sake of the interest of their country and to find ways to provide a decent life for the Yemeni citizen, and between those fighting the Yemenis — the origin of Arabs — for the sake of fawning and getting close to the Wilayat-al-Faqih and the project of the Iranian terrorist regime in the region,” Prince Khalid said.

Commenting on the development, Colonel Turki Al-Maliki, the spokesman of the coalition, said that the committee would start working as early as Monday. — Agencies