Shakirah Hunter
Yemen’s Houthi rebels have launched several drone and missile attacks on the UAE a member of the Saudi coalition fighting against Yemen. In response the coalition has stepped up attacks in Northern Yemen, in the Saga Province in the Capital Sanaa. Sabaah Al Mukhtaar president of the Arab lawyer’s association in the United Kingdom, London spoke to Radio Islam’s ML Junaid Kharsaany to give us a better understanding of the background behind the conflict.
Are the Houthis rebels or a part of Yemen?
The Houthi school of thought emerges from Iran, and they follow the Ibn Zaid school of thought which is primarily a Shia school of thought. The Houthis are one of the Yemeni tribes named after their leader Badruddin Al- Houthi. They had six insurrection attempts between 2004 and 2010. The reason is that the Houthis believed that they were being deprived from the National development in Yemen . In 2014, the Houthis with the Shia backed Iranian government breached and took over the Capital Sanaa. This allowed them control of almost the whole of Yemen. The Houthis believe that the Saudis are playing a bad role, however historically the Saudis used to back the Houthis. On the 12th of March 2014, one of the leaders of the Houthis declared war on Saud Arabia with the statement that they would ‘liberate’ Riyadh the Capital of Saudi Arabia.
The next year the Yemeni President, Haadi Mansour asked the Gulf cooperation council and the Gulf states to put down the Houthis takeover.
The Role of the UAE in the conflict:
The UAE seems to have backed off from any military role in this conflict but have been creating a lot of unrest. One of the richest countries of the world, they are doing a lot of harm by supporting sensational groups both in Arab countries and African countries. Mukhtaar explains the role of the UAE in Yemen. “They are supporting the South Yemenis against the Yemen government. In Syria they are supporting the Kurdish movement, also in Libya, Ethiopia, Somalia amongst many others. The UAE claims that Yemen is a part of the UAE and have destabilized the country in their support and the Houthis are trying to take the war back to the UAE. Particularly because of their support of the Israelis against the Palestinians which one would not expect from an Arab country”.
People are fatigued by the game of thrones being played by Saudi Arabia and the UAE in Yemen, what is the end game?
This is unfortunately a war on behalf of others, this is a War on behalf of Iran on the one hand and Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi on the other hand backed by the US. They are using the Yemeni people as stooges – there is no actual care about the Yemeni people whether Iranian backed Houthis or not. The Saudis became concerned because they would be caught between the two sides of Iran, and they wanted to restore ‘peace’ and stability to Yemen. However, it is an absolute Human tragedy of the loss of life and starvation in Yemen.
Oman, has been trying to broker peace between the Iranians , the Saudis and the UAE. However according to Sabaah Al Mukhtaar , he does not think that either party will listen to Oman.
Listen to the full interview here
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