This was inevitable. Iran funds and arms the Houthis and they did to overthrow the Sunni Government of Yemen. Now, Saudi Arabia is going to fund the Sunni Majority in Yemen to take back the government from the Houthis. This was always expected because Saudi Arabia could not let stand an Iranian Funded government (their enemy) to exist in Yemen.
Rebels Accuse Saudis of Fueling Unrest to Divide Yemen
| New York Times | - |
SANA, Yemen
- The leader of the Houthi rebel group here, in an unusually combative
speech Thursday that reflected frustration by the rebel movement at its
deepening isolation, accused Saudi Arabia, Yemen's powerful neighbor, of financing armed ...
SANA,
Yemen — The leader of the Houthi rebel group here, in an unusually
combative speech Thursday that reflected frustration by the rebel
movement at its deepening isolation, accused Saudi Arabia, Yemen’s powerful neighbor, of financing armed opponents and trying to divide the country.
The
Houthis control the capital, Sana, in northern Yemen, and much of the
nation’s military. Yet their authority faces a sharp challenge from
Yemen’s former president, Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who fled to the southern city of Aden
on Saturday and, with the backing of Saudi Arabia and other Persian
Gulf monarchies, declared that he was still the country’s legitimate
leader.
Yemen
has been without a government since late January, when Mr. Hadi and his
cabinet resigned under pressure from the Houthis. Now the country
appears more and more splintered between competing fiefs in the north
and south, raising fears that it will suffer the same fate as Libya,
riven by increasingly bloody factional fighting between rival
governments.
Houthis March Through Yemen’s Capital
Houthi rebels rallied support during a march through Sana, Yemen’s capital, denouncing the United States.
Video by Mona El-Naggar on
Publish Date January 30, 2015.
Photo by Wadia Mohammed/European Pressphoto Agency.
There
are also concerns that the power vacuum will benefit Al Qaeda’s
powerful local affiliate, which has been adept at seizing on political
chaos in the capital to capture territory.
As
the conflict in Yemen has accelerated, nearly all Western and regional
countries, including the United States and Saudi Arabia, have shut down
their embassies in the capital, adding to the international pressure on
the Houthis to reconcile with their enemies.
Like
in Libya, regional powers have been accused of playing a provocative
role in Yemen’s latest feuds, by supporting opposing armed factions.
The
Houthis, northern tribesmen who belong to the minority Zaydi Shiite
sect, have received backing from Iran. Saudi Arabia and other Persian
Gulf states, who see Iran as a dangerous rival, have been accused of
supporting anti-Houthi factions.
In
his speech on Thursday, the Houthi leader, Abdel Malik al-Houthi,
abandoned earlier conciliatory language and reacted angrily to reports
that the Saudis, as well as Qatar, had sent their ambassadors to Aden in
a show of support for Mr. Hadi.
Mr.
Houthi complained about the expulsion of Yemeni workers from Saudi
Arabia and accused its monarchy of trying to “exploit” Mr. Hadi’s move
to Aden while attempting to “to introduce the Libyan model and impose it
on Yemen.” He also asserted that the Saudis were supporting anti-Houthi
tribes in Marib, a province east of the capital.
After
the events of the last week, Yemen appeared to be facing “civil wars
and economic collapse,” said Nabil Subyae, a Yemeni journalist and
political analyst. If the Houthis did not pursue compromise and back
down from their positions, “there will likely be a ruptured Yemen,” he
added.
The
current crisis began in September, when the Houthis moved from their
base in the northern Saada region and seized the capital, declaring that
Mr. Hadi’s government was both ineffective and corrupt.
The
Houthis quickly advanced beyond Sana, sparking a violent reaction from
Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, their longtime foes. Since then,
Yemenis and foreign diplomats have watched with alarm as Al Qaeda has
steadily gained allies among tribes that oppose the Houthis.
In January, the Houthis put Mr. Hadi under house arrest, forcing his resignation and toppling the government. Mr. Hadi remained under Houthi guard until last week, when, in a confusing turn of events, he was either released or escaped.
Mr.
Hadi quickly made his way to Aden, a dilapidated port city and a
stronghold for Yemen’s southern separatist movement, as well as an area
where the Houthis have faced resentment and have virtually no control.
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