Is there Saudi-Emirati agreement directed against sit-in committee in Mahra?
HADRAMOUT, Dec. 08 (YPA) – The Saudi forces pushed on Sunday large military reinforcements to the districts of Hadramout province in eastern Yemen, in a sudden move to strengthen the positions of the factions of Dera al-Watan or Shield of Homeland, supported by Riyadh.
The Saudi reinforcements, including dozens of armored vehicles and coming from the Sharura area through the Al-Abr crossing, coincided with the escalation of the UAE-funded factions in the eastern regions of Yemen, within the struggle of influence between the two parties in the two provinces.
The reinforcements pave the way for a new phase of the conflict after the UAE-funded factions took control last week of the camps of the Islah Party-run first military zone with full equipment in the districts of Wadi Hadramout without any confrontations.
It raised questions about what is happening in two provinces, especially after the lowering of the flag of the Republic of Yemen from the al-Wadiah border crossing with Saudi Arabia, which is under the control of the Dera al-Watan factions, backed by Riyadh, amid a situation of intense competition between the latter and Abu Dhabi through local tools.
In a related context, the provinces of Mahra bordering the Sultanate of Oman were witnessed Emirati moves to send armed reinforcements to Mahra from Hadramout, in conjunction with the sudden and orderly withdrawal of the Dera al-Watan factions from the locations where it was stationed during the past days in a number of Mahra districts, without issuing any announcement clarifying the reasons and backgrounds of the withdrawal.
Sources familiar with the matter told Yemeni Press Agency about the UAE’s tireless efforts to deploy its armed factions at the border shipping port with the Sultanate of Oman, in light of the withdrawal of pro-Saudi factions, amid leaks that there are understandings being managed behind the scenes between Riyadh and Abu Dhabi, consisting of weaving a conspiracy directed against the sit-in committee of the Mahra tribes, led by Sheikh Ali Salem al-Harizi, against the foreign presence in the province.
The combination of events and their chronology of the control of pro-Emirati factions over the camps of the first military zone in Hadramout, and the organized Saudi withdrawal from al-Mahra, in additional to the heavy Saudi reinforcements to province, indicate the existence of coordination or prior agreement at a high level between Riyadh and Abu Dhabi to reposition their factions instead of the traditional pro-Islah Party’s forces in the eastern regions of Yemen.
It seems that the direct field goal of the Saudi military reinforcements is to compensate the Dera al-Waran factions for losses in Hadramout, and to reaffirm the Saudi presence deep in the province after the apparent Emirati expansion.
The moves leave the door open to new possibilities of tension between regional powers at a time when the provinces, controlled by the Saudi-led coalition in southern and eastern Yemen, are still suffering from divisions and direct American, British and Israeli interventions intertwined in economic and military interests away from the path of peace.
AA