Study: Saudi funding in south Yemen backfires, bolstering STC popularity

ABU DHABI, May 08 (YPA) – The Abu Dhabi-based “Political Studies Center” has confirmed that Saudi financial influence in Yemen’s southern and eastern provinces is yielding counterproductive results, suggesting that these allocations have failed to achieve their intended political objectives.

Dr. Khaled Al-Shammari, head of the center, stated via the “X” platform that the billions spent by Riyadh to counter the influence of the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) and its leader, Aidarous al-Zubaidi, have inadvertently bolstered al-Zubaidi’s popularity across Hadramout and other southern regions.

Al-Shammari described the Saudi financial policy as a “failure,” noting that the intense struggle for influence over resource-rich areas in southern Yemen has turned these expenditures into a source of “bitterness” for Kingdom leadership, amid the sharp geopolitical polarization prevailing since 2015.

YPA