Houthis lose ground
Yemen peace elusive
SANAA/DUBAI, Aug 19, (Agencies): Emirati tanks heave across southern Yemen’s stony wastes and Apache helicopters from a Saudi-led coalition, dubbed “black genies” by local media, rule its skies, helping fighters loyal to the exiled government win the initiative against an Iran-allied militia.
The advanced weapons deployed by Gulf Arab states have powered the local fighters into territory controlled by the Houthi group, reversing the tide in a civil war linked to a regional power struggle between Sunni Muslim states and Iran.
But some Yemenis now fear that the coalition’s desire for a knock-out blow on the battlefield may trump chances of a compromise that could piece back together the shattered state and spare the ancient capital Sanaa from a devastating showdown.
“Everyone’s afraid that the war will soon arrive,” said Mohammed al-Awadi, a storekeeper in the city, chewing narcotic qat leaves, a national
pastime and a welcome distraction from the problems which rack the nation.
“People are hoarding food or else fleeing to the countryside and there are Houthi fighters everywhere in the streets.”
Yemen’s foreign minister in exile has upped the ante, saying the war may soon end with the violent downfall of the Houthis’ leader and their ally, ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh.
“As for the deposed president, I’m sure he’ll go through something awful. Either he’ll flee to another country or meet Gaddafi’s fate, killed in a ditch or basement. Abdul Malik al-Houthi, I think he’ll flee to Iran or some mountains that will then turn into a combat zone,” Riyadh Yaseen told the Saudi newspaper al-Okaz.
Forging an unlikely alliance, Saleh and the Shiite Muslim Houthis put aside years of enmity to seize the capital in September and march on the southern city of Aden in March, triggering the Saudi-led intervention and hundreds of air strikes.
The kingdom feared the Houthis’ ties to Tehran meant its southern neighbour would fall under Iranian influence, but the militia denies being beholden to the Islamic republic and says it is trying to save Yemen from jihadists and Western imperialism.
Battle lines barely budged after war erupted on March 26, but Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates bided their time in training and arming the southern fighters loyal to the exiled government who ejected the Houthis from the port last month.
Though advances towards the capital have been made on three fronts, winning the northern home turf of the Shiite militia may prove a tougher fight for the mostly Sunni opposition.
“(There is) a need to ensure that there isn’t a reckless military momentum that develops which ignores the obvious dangers of pushing on,” a diplomat in the Gulf who focuses on Yemen told Reuters.