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saudi arabia on Thursday formally called on Emirate-backed separatists in Yemen to withdraw from two governorates now controlled by their forces, a move that threatens to stoke conflict within the fragile coalition battling Houthi rebels.
Saudi Arabia’s statement Ministry of External Affairs On Christmas morning it appeared the aim was to put public pressure on the Southern Transitional Council, a power long supported by the United Arab Emirates. Saudi Arabia has supported other militias within Yemen, including the National Shield Forces, in the war against the Iranian-backed Houthis state that began in 2015.
The Saudi Foreign Ministry warned that the separatists’ actions have resulted in an “undue escalation that harms the interests of all sections of the Yemeni people, as well as the southern objective and the coalition’s efforts.”
It added: “The Kingdom emphasizes the importance of cooperation among all Yemeni factions and components to exercise restraint and avoid any measures that could destabilize security and stability, which could result in undesirable consequences.”
Saudi Arabia says talks continue
The council has relocated to the governorate of Hadramaut and Mahra, Yemen. The Saudi statement said the focus efforts were aimed at returning council forces “to their previous positions outside the two governorates and handing over camps in those areas to national shield forces”.
“Efforts are ongoing to restore the situation to the previous statement,” the ministry said.
The local Hadramout Governorate authority said it supports the Saudi announcement and welcomes the arrival of the joint Saudi-UAE delegation in Hadramout. It called for Emirate-backed separatists to withdraw to positions outside the governorates.
Those associated with the council have increasingly flown the flag of South Yemen, which was a separate country from 1967 to 1990. Demonstrations were called for in Aden on Thursday to support political forces seeking to secede from Yemen again, but it was not immediately clear whether they would go ahead following Saudi Arabia’s announcement. Aden has been a center of power for forces aligned against the Houthis in Yemen.
The confrontation has also strained relations between neighboring Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which maintain close ties and are members of the OPEC oil cartel but have also competed for influence and international trade in recent years.
The council’s actions in Yemen come after an increase in violence in another country, Sudan. red sea Where states and emirates support opposing forces in the ongoing war.
This is the latest chaos to engulf war-torn Yemen
The Houthis captured Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, in September 2014 and forced the internationally recognized government into exile. Tehran denies supplying arms to the rebels, although Iranian-made weapons have been found on the battlefield and in sea shipments headed to Yemen despite a UN arms embargo.
The Saudi-led coalition, armed with American weapons and intelligence, entered the war in March 2015 on the side of Yemen’s exiled government. Years of inconclusive fighting have pushed the Arab world’s poorest country to the brink of famine.
The war has killed more than 150,000 people, including fighters and civilians, and has become one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters, killing thousands.
The Houthis attacked hundreds of ships in the Red Sea corridor during the Israel-Hamas war, severely disrupting regional shipping.
While traffic has increased due to a recent decline in attacks, many trawlers continue to go around Africa via the Cape of Good Hope to avoid the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
Further chaos in Yemen could again attract the United States. The US launched an intensive bombing campaign against the president earlier this year, targeting rebels donald trump Stopped by right before my trip to the Middle East. The Biden administration also launched strikes against the Houthis, including using US B-2 bombers to target underground bunkers used by the Houthis.
The Houthis, meanwhile, announced funeral plans Thursday for several of their fighters, including Maj. Gen. Zakaria Abdullah Yahya Hajar, identified by analysts as the group’s drone and missile chief. US forces reportedly targeted Hajar, who had received training from the Quds Force, the expeditionary force of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, in an attack in Sanaa in March. In announcing the funeral, the Houthis did not provide any information about when or how he died.
Meanwhile, the Houthis have increasingly threatened Saudi Arabia and taken dozens of staff from UN agencies and other aid groups as prisoners, alleging without evidence that they were spies – a charge the UN and others strongly deny.