RIYADH: Riyadh’s landmark Kingdom Centre skyscraper ordered remote working for office tenants on Sunday as disruption spread from Houthi attacks and the Saudi-led coalition announced its first military deaths since the war reignited.
The 99-storey tower, one of Saudi Arabia’s tallest buildings, announced “mandatory” remote working until further notice. No reason was given for the order, but it follows a fresh security alert and two drone interceptions around the capital.
Schools in the capital and surrounding areas extended online learning into a second week, while Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport remains closed after 13 people were killed in a major attack last week.
The Saudi coalition’s decade-plus war with the Houthis has returned with ferocity during the US-Iran war, with regular attacks reported by both sides.
Egypt’s parliament on Sunday postponed a vote on President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s request to authorise military support for Saudi Arabia, two lawmakers told AFP, extending deliberations to Monday.
And Iran’s newly appointed Defence Minister Mehrdad Akhlaghi threatened to inflict “enormous damage” on the United States and its allies if Washington resumes its military campaign.
‘Until further notice’
Tenants of the Kingdom Centre, which towers over central Riyadh, include financial services giant Merril Lynch, management consultancy McKinsey and the International Monetary Fund.
“Please be advised that remote working arrangements are mandatory for all office employees at Kingdom Centre, effective immediately and until further notice,” the building’s management said in an email seen by AFP.
“Kindly refrain from attending the offices during this period,” it added. The mall at the foot of the building remains open.
The coalition announced the death of two helicopter pilots in Najran near the border with Yemen, blaming a “technical malfunction”, after Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree had said the group “downed an Apache helicopter belonging to the Saudi enemy” in the same area.
After an uneasy, four-year truce, Yemen’s conflict has surged back to life and intensified when the group seized strategic territory along the Red Sea coast last month.
The Houthis have hit Saudi targets including tankers in the Red Sea, oil facilities and Riyadh’s King Khalid International airport.
Meanwhile the Saudi-led coalition backing the internationally recognised government has launched repeated air raids on Houthi territory.
Security alerts
The coalition said overnight it intercepted two drones in the Riyadh area and a third over the oil-rich Eastern Province. Saudi authorities had earlier issued a threat alert in the capital.
The coalition also said two ballistic missiles were intercepted in the kingdom’s south. Threat alerts for Najran city and As Sulayyil governorate in Riyadh province were issued but quickly cancelled on Sunday.
The Houthis have declared a maritime blockade on Saudi Arabia and captured territory around the Bab al-Mandab strait, the Red Sea chokepoint and vital export route for Saudi oil since Iran blockaded the Gulf’s Strait of Hormuz.
The Houthis badly disrupted the Red Sea, a key route connecting Asia with Europe via Egypt’s Suez Canal, with attacks on ships during the Israel-Hamas war.
On Sunday, Egypt’s parliament held an emergency session after President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi asked lawmakers to authorise support to defend Saudi Arabia against Houthi attacks.
The session was extended into Monday “to give all lawmakers the opportunity to speak and express their views”, one of them told AFP.
Sisi had said he was willing to “carry out any measure to protect” Saudi Arabia if its leaders requested it.
“I’m not talking about fighting anyone or attacking anyone,” he said on Saturday. “We are speaking only about defence.”