The United Arab Emirates has agreed to re-enter the conflict in Yemen against the Iran-backed Houthi rebels as they advance, several Yemeni sources told The Guardian. The UAE will resume paying some pro-government forces fighting the Houthis in the south of the country, and in return Saudi Arabia will give those anti-Houthi forces air cover.
Saudi Arabia and the UAE are deeply divided over Yemen’s future. The new cooperation is the first visible sign of that rift narrowing. Houthi advances across Yemen have also alarmed rival Gulf rulers.
Saudi Arabia faces drone and missile attacks almost daily. The Houthi strikes have disrupted operations at its airports and energy facilities.
The dispute over southern Yemen is unresolved
Separatists in southern Yemen demanded a referendum on independence this week. Neither Saudi Arabia nor the UAE has yet answered the demand. Such a referendum could open the way to restoring the border along which Yemen was two separate states from 1967 to 1990.
The separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC) has still not agreed to let its troops fight beyond the borders of the former South Yemen. That restriction could be lifted if Saudi Arabia clearly agrees to a referendum.
Earlier, Saudi Arabia bombed a shipment of weapons the UAE had sent for STC forces. The UAE then announced it was withdrawing from all activity in Yemen. The Saudi-backed Yemeni government also said it would put the STC’s leader, Aidarous al-Zubaidi, on trial for treason.
Emirati officials are deeply worried by the state of the war. Despite heavy losses, the Houthis are determined to take Taiz and Marib in the end, two important cities outside the borders of the former South Yemen.
On Friday two missiles fired by the Houthis hit Aden airport while a passenger plane was preparing to take off. No casualties were reported.
Talks are also under way on whether Saudi Arabia should work more closely with Oman, Qatar and other Gulf states.
In Taiz, a besieged city, food supplies are steadily running down.
The legal consequences for Britain if it gives extensive support to a Saudi-led air campaign in Yemen are being considered.
In 2019 the UK Court of Appeal ruled that the British government had acted unlawfully in granting arms export licences during Saudi bombing in Yemen in 2015-16.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report