The New York Times described Houthi messaging around Kaaba-related cloth as a bid to weaken Saudi leaders’ standing, amid competing accounts of a drone said to be heading for Mecca.
U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) records include a February 2017 email exchange about sending three pieces described as coming from the Kaaba to LSJE, LLC in St. Thomas. A Feb. 23 message from Daphne Wallace amended an earlier description: the shipment concerned three pieces, not the Kaaba structure. A separate DOJ record describes one piece as used inside the Kaaba, another as part of its exterior covering and a third as an unused piece produced at the same factory from the same material. The records document the shipment discussion but do not record Saudi government authorization or authenticate the pieces’ provenance.
Yemen’s Saba news agency reported that Mahdi Al-Mashat, president of Yemen’s Supreme Political Council, made the accusation in a Sept. 16 statement: “Those who gave Epstein the Kaaba’s cover are the ones targeting Mecca and Islamic holy sites.”
A day earlier, a Houthi military source denied any threat from Yemen toward Mecca or other holy sites, Saba reported. Al Jazeera, citing Reuters, reported that coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki said Saudi air defenses intercepted a drone the coalition said was heading toward Mecca before it entered restricted airspace.
The New York Times reported that messages about the cloth appeared in social media posts, videos, speeches and songs. It said the campaign presents the Houthis as defenders of Islam. Saudi Arabia backs Yemen’s internationally recognized government, which is in conflict with the Houthis, the newspaper reported. It also said Saudi officials had not publicly addressed the accusations by the time its Oct. 23 article was published.
The DOJ said on Jan. 30 that it had released more than 3 million additional pages related to Jeffrey Epstein, bringing its total production to nearly 3.5 million pages.
