Saudi moves to incursion into UAE-controlled areas of Hadramout coast

HADRAMOUT, July 07 (YPA) – Saudi Arabia has taken new steps to strengthen its influence in the areas controlled by UAE-backed factions on the coast of Hadramout province, eastern Yemen, informed sources reported on Thursday.

The sources said that the governor of Hadramout, Mabkhout bin Madi, who is loyal to the Saudi-led coalition, is preparing to disburse sums of up to 1,000 Saudi riyals, provided by Riyadh, to recruits on the coast of Hadramout, in a move that would put the UAE and its loyal factions in an embarrassing position in front of the recruits.

The sources pointed out that bin Mad intends to visit the camps in the coastal areas of Hadramout in the coming days.

The movements of forces loyal to Saudi Arabia in the coast of Hadramout come in the midst of the ongoing struggle between Riyadh and Abu Dhabi to control the oil-rich province.

Saudi Arabia had worked in late June to return the president of the “Presidential Leadership Council,” Rashad al-Alimi, to the city of Mukalla, in a move that many analysts considered a blow to Abu Dhabi’s efforts to control Hadramout, as al-Alimi granted Hadramout province financial, administrative, and security autonomy, about a week after Riyadh established the “Hadramout National Council.”

Meanwhile, the leaders of the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) accuse Saudi Arabia of deploying a large number of gunmen loyal to Riyadh in the city of Mukalla, during Al-Alimi’s recent visit to Hadramout.

Observers believe that the Saudi-Emirati conflict in Hadramout province aims to divert attention from America’s tendencies that aim to impose its military presence in the province in eastern Yemen.

YPA