In the strongest tone adopted by Saudi Arabia against the Emirates… Has the dream of the “South” ended with the departure of Zayed’s soldiers? – Algerian Al-Hiwar newspaper

In the context of escalating tension between the two Gulf oil powers, the coalition launched an attack on what it described as external military support for the southern separatists supported by the UAE, while Rashad Al-Alimi, head of the Saudi-backed Yemeni Presidential Command Council, set a deadline for the Emirati forces. Al-Alimi called on all Emirati forces to leave the country within 24 hours and canceled the joint defense agreement with the UAE, which he accused in a televised speech of fueling internal conflict in Yemen.

He said: “Unfortunately, it has been conclusively proven that the United Arab Emirates exerted pressure and directed the Transitional Council to undermine the state’s authority and violate it through military escalation.”

Saudi Arabia called on the Emiratis to respond to the demands of the Yemeni authorities. The UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs has not yet responded to a request for comment.

The two allies are close to entering into conflict

Movements carried out by the southern separatists supported by the UAE led to putting the Southern Transitional Council in a confrontation with the Yemeni government forces supported by Saudi Arabia, and brought the two allies closer than ever to entering into an all-out conflict in Yemen, which has been mired in a civil war since 2014.

The UAE was a partner in the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis, who are allied with Iran.

In 2019, the UAE began withdrawing its forces from the country, but it remained committed to the internationally recognized government supported by Saudi Arabia. The coalition said that the limited strike took place after two ships coming from the port of Fujairah in the UAE entered the port of Mukalla, on Saturday and Sunday, “without obtaining official permits from the leadership of the joint forces of the coalition.”

Saudi Arabia had warned the main southern separatist group of military movements in the eastern Hadhramaut governorate, and requested the withdrawal of its forces after it announced the expansion of its control in the south, in an escalation after years of stagnation.

The Southern Transitional Council rejected the Saudi invitation.

There were no casualties as a result of the strike

Saudi official media quoted the coalition as saying that the raid on the port of Mukalla did not result in deaths, injuries, or collateral damage. Two sources told Reuters that the bombing targeted the pier where the two ships were unloaded.

The UAE-backed forces control large areas of territory in the south, including the strategically important Hadhramaut Governorate. Al-Alimi imposed an air, land and sea embargo on all ports and outlets for a period of 72 hours, except for what is issued with permission and an official statement from the coalition leadership.

Hadramaut is located on the border with Saudi Arabia, and they are linked by cultural and historical relations. Many prominent Saudi figures have origins in the region.

The Southern Transitional Council was initially part of the Saudi-led coalition that intervened in Yemen in 2015 against the Iran-aligned Houthi movement. But the Council’s position shifted and it sought autonomy in the south.

Since 2022, the separatists have been part of a coalition that controls southern regions outside Houthi control under a power-sharing initiative backed by Riyadh.

The Houthis control the northern part of the country, including the capital, Sanaa, after they forced the Saudi-backed government to remain south.

The coalition said today that it will continue to “prevent any military support from any country from reaching any Yemeni component without coordination with the legitimate Yemeni government.”

Complexity of the political scene

On Tuesday, officials in the Southern Transitional Council in Yemen rejected the Saudi bombing that targeted the port of Mukalla, describing it as “a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law and a direct targeting of civilian rights.”

Transitional officials said, in statements today in response to the bombing, that despite the issuance of statements that attempted to present the bombing as a “limited operation,” the facts on the ground indicate “a direct targeting of a vital civilian facility that represents an economic and livelihood artery for thousands of residents, which places the operation in a completely different framework, and raises legal and political problems at the same time.”

They pointed out that the bombing “did not lead to confusion in the southern street, but on the contrary, it strengthened the popular rally around the Southern Transitional Council,” noting that the political decision in the south has become linked to popular consensus and is no longer subject to military pressure.

They stressed that targeting the ports of Hadhramaut “will not change its geographical or political reality, nor will it separate it from its southern surroundings, no matter how many stories there are,” considering that “injecting the name of the UAE into the context of the bombing is an intentional political escalation aimed at transferring the crisis to the regional framework.”

Hani Bin Brik, Vice President of the Presidency of the Southern Transitional Council, said in a tweet on the X social media platform: “The bombing of a southern civilian port is a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law, which gives civilian facilities strong legal protection, and it is an attack on the rights of civilians, both citizens and merchants, for whom the port is their funding artery.”

Bin Brik expressed his fears that these policies would lead to “Saudi Arabia losing its truest and truest allies,” warning that the primary beneficiary of this path is the Houthis. He also called for saving the file from the hands of “the tampering people who do not want any good for Saudi Arabia, the Emirates, the south, or the north.”

Today, the Yemeni newspaper “May 4” quoted Ali Al-Jafri, a member of the Presidency of the Southern Transitional Council, as saying that the Presidential Council has no decision on the people of the south, noting that “they only own 5% of the country’s area.”

The Yafa News website quoted senior sources in the Transitional Council as saying, “The recent attack makes the coalition supporting legitimacy in Yemen a thing of the past,” considering what “happened in the port of Mukalla as a unilateral Saudi aggression.”

The sources added, “This strike causes severe damage to the ongoing arrangements to contain the situation in eastern Yemen, and increases the complexity of the political and security scene in the region.” (agencies)