Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /customers/a/c/1/hadalsame.com/httpd.www/index.php:52) in /customers/a/c/1/hadalsame.com/httpd.www/wp-includes/rest-api/class-wp-rest-server.php on line 1794 Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /customers/a/c/1/hadalsame.com/httpd.www/index.php:52) in /customers/a/c/1/hadalsame.com/httpd.www/wp-includes/rest-api/class-wp-rest-server.php on line 1794 Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /customers/a/c/1/hadalsame.com/httpd.www/index.php:52) in /customers/a/c/1/hadalsame.com/httpd.www/wp-includes/rest-api/class-wp-rest-server.php on line 1794 Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /customers/a/c/1/hadalsame.com/httpd.www/index.php:52) in /customers/a/c/1/hadalsame.com/httpd.www/wp-includes/rest-api/class-wp-rest-server.php on line 1794 Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /customers/a/c/1/hadalsame.com/httpd.www/index.php:52) in /customers/a/c/1/hadalsame.com/httpd.www/wp-includes/rest-api/class-wp-rest-server.php on line 1794 Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /customers/a/c/1/hadalsame.com/httpd.www/index.php:52) in /customers/a/c/1/hadalsame.com/httpd.www/wp-includes/rest-api/class-wp-rest-server.php on line 1794 Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /customers/a/c/1/hadalsame.com/httpd.www/index.php:52) in /customers/a/c/1/hadalsame.com/httpd.www/wp-includes/rest-api/class-wp-rest-server.php on line 1794 Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /customers/a/c/1/hadalsame.com/httpd.www/index.php:52) in /customers/a/c/1/hadalsame.com/httpd.www/wp-includes/rest-api/class-wp-rest-server.php on line 1794 {"id":31713,"date":"2019-08-02T10:41:53","date_gmt":"2019-08-02T09:41:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hadalsame.com\/?p=31713"},"modified":"2019-08-02T10:43:09","modified_gmt":"2019-08-02T09:43:09","slug":"why-the-united-arab-emirates-is-abandoning-saudi-arabia-in-yemen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hadalsame.com\/2019\/08\/02\/why-the-united-arab-emirates-is-abandoning-saudi-arabia-in-yemen\/","title":{"rendered":"Why the United Arab Emirates Is Abandoning Saudi Arabia in Yemen?"},"content":{"rendered":"

(Hadalsame) 02 August 2019<\/strong> <\/span>– Earlier this month, the United Arab Emirates announced that it would be withdrawing at least part of its military contingent from Yemen, hinting at serious trouble in the country\u2019s relationship with Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0announcement<\/a>\u00a0came on July 8, when the UAE noted that it would be changing its \u201cmilitary first\u201d strategy to a more diplomatic approach. It also said it would reduce the number of troops it has in the area. A Yemeni official confirmed the news, pointing out that UAE soldiers had already \u201ctotally vacated\u201d a military base in Khokha, which is about 80 miles south of the Red Sea city of Hodeida. UAE officials\u00a0 stressed<\/a>that they discussed the withdrawal with Saudi Arabia last year and\u00a0 argued<\/a>\u00a0that it would not leave a vacuum, because the UAE had trained some 90,000 Yemeni tribesmen, former security personnel, and militia members from the south who could fill in.<\/p>\n

Saudi Arabia has not been particularly vocal about the withdrawal, but officials in Riyadh are\u00a0 reported<\/a>\u00a0by the\u00a0New York Times<\/em>\u00a0as having \u201cintervened with the Emirati leaders to try to dissuade them from the drawdown.\u201d With those efforts having failed,\u00a0Saudi forces<\/a>\u00a0recently took over command of Khokha and the port city of Mokha to its south. Riyadh also sent troops to the southern city of Aden and the adjacent Perim Island in the strategic Bab el-Mandeb waterway. It had taken major conquests by the UAE to seize and hold those areas, so its departure is more serious than its initial statements implied.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s also the problem that the UAE is leaving behind competition and potential conflict between the militias it nurtured in the areas it held. Today, the Southern Transitional Council\u2014led by former Aden Gov. Aidarus al-Zubaidi, who was sacked by President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi in 2017\u2014has for all practical purposes taken over government functions in Aden and has plans to sue for\u00a0 independence<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Riyadh may have a hard time accommodating the council\u2019s wishes and managing other UAE-supported militias<\/a>, such as the Security Belt Forces and the Shabwani and Hadrami Elite Forces, all nominally part of the Yemeni army, and the Salafi Amalqa and Abu al-Abbas Brigades. Saudi Arabia\u2019s ostensible reason for intervening in Yemen was restore Hadi to power and to help maintain Yemen\u2019s unity. So recognizing and cooperating with his rivals in the south would undermine Saudi Arabia\u2019s original rationale for the war and harm its credibility.<\/p>\n

These uncomfortable truths beg the question of why the UAE decided to leave in the first place. There are a few possibilities.<\/p>\n

For one, the UAE, experiencing an\u00a0 economic slowdown<\/a>\u00a0at home, may have finally decided to retrench from a clearly stalemated battle against a determined opponent. It understands that allied militias will still control the southern part of the country and that Saudi Arabia, irritated though it may be, will not deprive the UAE of access to the area\u2019s naval facilities, which are essential for its strategic goal of controlling maritime bases from the Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea. However angry Saudi decision-makers are about the UAE\u2019s departure, they are unlikely to prevent it from using Yemeni facilities, because they need Abu Dhabi\u2019s support against Iran and in an ongoing dispute with Qatar.<\/p>\n

Beyond that, if the stalemate leads to Yemen\u2019s partition, the UAE\u2019s overall interests would still be served. If the Houthis succeed in controlling parts of northern Yemen\u2014thus potentially providing a foothold for Iran\u2014the threat to the geographically distant UAE would be limited. At the same time, an independent south Yemen controlled by pro-UAE politicians and forces would be reliant on support from Abu Dhabi and is likely to give the latter unfettered access to its facilities and territory.<\/p>\n

The UAE, still deeply concerned about the Iranian challenge in the Persian Gulf, is also under\u00a0 more pressure<\/a>\u00a0than ever to protect the home front. Previously, it believed it could count on the United States to help contain Iran, but with U.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s retreat from striking Iran after it\u00a0 downed<\/a>\u00a0an American spy plane, the UAE now prefers to gather its soldiers closer to home.<\/p>\n

BY IMAD K. HARB<\/span><\/p>\n

Hadalsame Media<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"