Efforts to end Yemen war gather pace
BRITISH FOREIGN SECRETARY IN REGION AS AL HOUTHIS SUFFER MAJOR SETBACKS
Saudi King Salman Bin Abdul Aziz and British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt held talks in Riyadh yesterday on ending the war in Yemen.
Later, Hunt arrived in the UAE and met His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces. Hunt is seeking to build support for UN efforts to end the threeyear conflict in Yemen. Earlier, he also met Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al Jubeir.
The UK is trying to shore up support among regional partners for new action at the UN Security Council for peace talks in Yemen.
“Britain has a unique position, both as pen-holder at the UN Security Council and as a key influencer in the region, so today I am travelling to the Gulf to demand that all sides commit to this process,” Hunt said before embarking on his trip.
On the battlefield, Yemeni government forces, led by UAE-backed troops, have made their way into rebelheld Hodeida after 11 days of clashes, reaching residential neighbourhoods in the east on Sunday.
On the political front, there have been high-ranking defections among erstwhile allies of Al Houthis, as the militia suffers setbacks at the hands of the coalition, experts said.
At least 149 people have been killed in 24 hours of clashes between government forces and Al Houthi militia in Hodeida.
Recent high-ranking defections among erstwhile allies of Al Houthis signal further such splits as the Iranaligned militia suffers setbacks at the hands of the Saudi-led coalition, experts said.
Last week, Abdul Salam Jaber, who had served as the information minister for Al Houthis, defected from the militia and fled the Al Houthi-controlled capital Sana’a for Riyadh. He said the rebels were “breathing their last”.
His defection came days after Abdullah Al Hamadi, who used to serve as deputy education minister in the so-called Al Houthi government, defected and also escaped to Saudi Arabia.
“The growing defections in Al Houthi ranks show their allies are jumping from the militia’s sinking ship,” said Adnan Mansour, a Yemeni analyst living in Cairo. “In fact, Al Houthis started losing trust among their allies inside Yemen after they killed former president Ali Abdullah Saleh,” Mansour told Gulf News.
“Another reason behind these defections is the realisation among many senior supporters inside Yemen that Al Houthis’ days are numbered, in view of their successive defeats on the ground — especially in their strongholds of Hodeida and Saada,” Mansour added.
This month, Yemeni government forces, supported by the coalition, started a major operation to liberate the strategic port city of Hodeida in western Yemen from Al Houthis. They have since made swift advances there and are inching closer to the port, a lifeline for Yemen.
“The recapture of the Hodeida harbour will deal a crushing economic blow to the [Al Houthi] militia as the port constitutes the main resource for them to obtain money, weapons and humanitarian assistance,” Mansour said. “Likewise, the complete defeat of Al Houthis in Saada [in northern Yemen] will mark a highly symbolic loss as the province is the birthplace of the Al Houthi movement and its leaders’ hometown. The developments on the fronts of Hodeida and Saada in particular make us expect more top-level defections in the ranks of Al Houthis in the coming days,” he added.
In recent months, several senior officials have defected from Al Houthis and fled Yemen, seeking exile in other countries, according to media reports. Unlike Jaber, those defectors have opted to keep a low profile for fear of being targeted by Al Houthis’ agents, the reports said. The defection trajectory has reportedly prompted Al Houthi militias to tighten control over leading officials and allies from Saleh’s General People’s Congress Party for fear of disloyalty.
Last month, Nasser Baqzuk announced his resignation as tourism minister in the unrecognised Al Houthi government, citing threats and illegal interferences from the militants.
Baqzuq has since suffered Al Houthi harassment after he failed to leave Sana’a.
Al Houthi activists have recently questioned intentions of several officials in their selfstyled government. “The current government in Sana’a is ineffective, paralysed and a heavy burden on the people,” Hamid Rezq, a member of the rebel politbureau said on Facebook.
“The state system and all its supporters should treat well each defector from Al Houthis,” tweeted Saleh Samih, the governor of Yemen’s province of Mahwit. “The defector takes the risk and faces great trouble only because he is convinced of the soundness of his decision to break away from the [previous] hellish situation. He should be judged on this basis.”