UAE changes name of Abd al-Kuri Island in Yemen’s Socotra

SOCOTRA, Aug. 12 (YPA) – The UAE, whose forces are present in Yemen’s Socotra province, located east of the Gulf of Aden, has changed the name of the archipelago’s most important island, a grave violation that should not be tolerated.

Abdul Nasser Al-Awadhli, one of activists, confirmed in a Facebook post last Monday that the UAE had deliberately changed the name of Abd al-Kuri Island to Abd al-Salam Island, questioning the position of the coalition-backed Aden government and Saudi-formed Presidential leadership council, which claim its legitimacy on the Island, regarding this serious violation.

“There are official memoranda issued by the UAE’s Khalifa Foundation to the Hadiboh Airport administration, confirming this designation by directing flights to “Abdul Salam Island”, under the pretext of transporting doctors and other equipment under the name “Saman,” Al-Awadhli added.

He reported that the UAE had appointed a relative of the Salafist leader who was appointed governor of Socotra, Rafat al-Thaqali, as director of Hadiboh Airport, in recognition of the services he had provided to the UAE.

This came after the UAE failed to change the name of Abd al-Kuri Island in 2020 to “Kalima,” after it was dropped from Google Maps with that name and later transformed into a joint military base with the Zionist entity.

AA