Emirati-Saudi conflict renews in Yemeni island of Socotra

SOCOTRA, Dec. 05 (YPA) – The Emirati-Saudi conflict has begun in the return to the forefront on the Yemeni island of Socotra, according to sources familiar with the matter.

The sources explained that the UAE is seeking to overthrow the Salafist leader, Raafat Al-Thaqli, who was appointed as governor of the island after completing the role he was assigned to since the expulsion of the Islah Party-affiliated governor, Ramzi Mahrous, in June 2020.

The sources indicated that Al-Thaqli legitimized the Emirati-Israeli presence by signing dozens of illegal agreements in the Island.

The UAE assigned the former security director in Socotra, Ahmed Issa Sulali, to undermine Al-Thaqli’s powers and limit his movements, in coordination with a number of local leaders within the province’s administrative building in the city of Hadibu, the center of the archipelago, due to his recent positions biased toward Saudi Arabia following the arrival of the commander of the Saudi support forces, Sultan Al-Baqami, in mid-November, to Socotra Island during the inauguration of one of “free medical camps for pediatric surgery.

The sources added that the UAE assigned the leader Sulali to suppress popular protests denouncing the economic collapse and demanding to improve basic services, such as electricity and roads, including gas imported from the UAE, whose cylinder price exceeded 37 thousand Yemeni riyals.

This comes at a time when Abdul Kuri Island, located within the Socotra Islands archipelago, is witnessing joint Emirati-Israeli military activities carried out by experts from the Israeli Navy, amid the silence of the so-called Saudi-formed Presidential Leadership Council, led by Rashad al-Alimi and the coalition-backed Aden government.

AA