Saudi prince pledges to give a free Bentley to every pilot involved in the Yemen air strikes which claimed 1,000 lives… as nation resumes its bombing raids
- Air strikes were launched by Saudi forces a month ago against rebels
- Saudi forces have focused on beating back Shiite Houthi rebels in Yemen
- Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal pledged Bentleys for pilots involved in bombings
- He made pledge on Wednesday after bombing raids appeared to resume, despite an official announcement that they would be halted last night
Saudi prince Alwaleed bin Talal has
pledged to give 100 Bentleys to Saudi pilots who took part in air
strikes against rebels advancing in Yemen
A
Saudi prince has promised to give a free Bentley to every pilot
involved in the Yemen air strikes, as bombing raids in the country
appeared to resume despite a pledge that they would stop.
Saudi
Arabian forces launched air strikes on Yemen a month ago to stop
advances from the Shiite Houthi rebels, who are allied with Iran and
previously overthrew the Saudi-backed government.
Prince
Alwaleed Bin Talal, the Saudi King Abdullah's nephew, has reportedly
promised to give each of the 100 fighter pilots involved in the month
long raids in Riyadh, the Saudi Arabian capital, a free Bentley.
Prince
Talal, who owns $300 million stake in Twitter, apparently made the
pledge on social media but the post has since been deleted, the International Business Times reported.
He wrote: 'To recognise the one hundred participating Saudi pilots I am pleased to present them with 100 Bentley cars,'
On
Tuesday the Saudis said the bombing raids, which have killed at least
944 people and wounded around 3,480, had been successful and they were
to focus on finding a political solution instead.
But the raids appeared to have resumed by Wednesday, with fighting taking place in Taez.
Dozens more people are said to have been wounded or killed.
Bin Talal, 60, is the grandson of Saudi Arabia's founder Ibn Saud and one of the richest men ion the world.
He has an estimated fortune of $23 billion and investments in London's Savoy Hotel, Apple, Citigroup and News Corp.
He
has previously gifted 25 Bentleys to members of a Saudi football team
and in 2013 threatened to boycott Forbes magazine for underestimating
his wealth and saying he was only in 26th place in a list of the world's
richest.
Almost 1,000 people are thought to have been killed during four weeks of air strikes by Saudi Arabian forces
The Prince, who is a billionaire, has pledged to give each of the pilots involved in the air strikes a Bentley
His
comments were met with criticism on Twitter, as well as supporters of
those in Yemen who have been killed in the month long airstrikes.
Saudi forces began its military campaign, called Operation Decisive Storm, on March 26.
They
were launched to stop the advancement of Shiite Houthi rebels who had
previously overthrown the Saudi-backed government and ousted President
Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi.
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