Yemen’s President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi fired his controversial deputy and delegated his powers to a presidential council in a move backed by Saudi Arabia, removing some obstacles to UN-led efforts to revive negotiations and put an end to the civil war that has been tearing the country apart for seven years. The one announced today, Thursday 7 April, is one of the most important steps forward also because it is combined with the two-month truce that was agreed between the Houthi militiamen and the forces of the Saudi-led international coalition. The weapons were stopped last Saturday, for the first time since 2016. Outgoing
Vice President Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, a Sunni general with a very conservative orientation, and considered an obstacle to any negotiation: a hawk in the line against the Houthis (which he also opposes for ideological reasons, considering them with a simplification as Shiite apostates), has conducted military campaigns against their strongholds northerners and not well regarded for the leading role they played in the 1994 north-south civil war.
Hadi entrusted the delegation for future negotiations to a presidential council, whose members were welcomed in Riyadh by the heir to the throne and factotum of the kingdom, Mohammed bin Salman, with the invitation to “start negotiations with the Houthis, under the supervision of the United Nations, to reach a definitive and comprehensive political solution that includes a transition period that will move Yemen towards peace and development”.
The new council, made up of a president and seven vice presidents, will be led by Rashad Al-Alimi , who enjoys Saudi support and has a close relationship with the main political grouping, the Islamist party Islah. Vice-presidents include the leader of the southern breakaway group, the Southern Transitional Council, Aidarous al-Zubaidi , who is backed by the UAE.
Saudi Arabia and the Emirates, leader and first partner of the coalition, will also inject a billion dollars each into the central bank of Yemen and the kingdom will grant an additional one billion dollars for oil products and development. This is a three billion injection, which is essential for Sanaa’s coffers. Hadi took the helm of a crumbling Yemeni state in 2012, thinking of a Gulf states-backed political transition plan following the 2011 Arab Spring protests that brought down President Ali Abdullah Saleh .
Riyadh, which last deposited funds in Aden’s central bank in 2018, has struggled to get out of the costly and unpopular conflict, which is widely seen in the region as a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran – as the Pasdaran provide armaments to the Houthis, which Yemeni rebels often use to strike Saudi territory, and given that when bin Salman launched the intervention in 2015 I speak of it as a first operational test for an Arab NATO with anti-Tehran functions.
The war killed tens of thousands of people and devastated the economy, leaving 80 percent of the population of some 30 million dependent on aid, creating an unprecedented humanitarian crisis in one of the poorest countries in the world. The Houthis have stepped up attacks on Saudi military and energy facilities in recent months, as well as making their first deadly attack on the UAE this year. This is also linked to the need to push for negotiations.
