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Yemen edges towards all-out civil war as rebels advance on city of Aden Yemen edges towards all-out civil war as rebels advance on city of Aden
(about 2 hours later)
Yemen edged closer to all-out civil war on Wednesday as rebels advanced on the southern city of Aden, the stronghold of the country’s president, and a military intervention by neighbouring Saudi Arabia appeared more likely. Yemen has edged closer to all-out civil war as Shia Houthi rebels seized a key military base in the southern port city of Aden and reports suggested that President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi had fled the country.
Shia Houthi rebels seized al-Anad air base, a key military facility between Taiz – Yemen’s third-largest city, which fell under rebel control last week – and Aden, in a renewed push for control of the country’s south. Rebels seized al-Anad airbase, which lies between Taiz – Yemen’s third-largest city, which fell under rebel control last week – and Hadi’s stronghold of Aden, in a renewed push for control of the country’s south.
The rebels, members of the Zaydi offshoot of Shia Islam, seized control of the capital, Sana’a, last year and placed the country’s president, Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, under house arrest in February. The advance sets the stage for a confrontation between Iran, which backs the rebels also known as Ansar Allah, and regional powers eager to halt the broadening of the the Islamic Republic’s regional influence.
Hadi fled to Aden this month. Yemen is the latest Arab country facing the prospect of civil conflict in the wake of the Arab spring protests. Yemen’s descent into chaos also complicates American efforts to fight al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), the jihadist group that has been repeatedly targeted by US drone strikes and which the Houthis also see as an enemy.
The rebel advance came as the likelihood increased of a military intervention by Saudi Arabia, which is amassing forces on the border. US officials told Reuters that Saudi Arabia was moving heavy equipment, including artillery, to areas near its border with Yemen, raising the prospects of an intervention. The rebels, members of the Zaydi offshoot of Shia Islam, seized control of the capital, Sana’a, last year and placed Hadi under house arrest. He fled to Aden this month.
The Saudi move came hours after a letter from Hadi to the UN security council’s president calling for an intervention. Hadi’s whereabouts were the subject of conflicting reports on Wednesday. Yemeni security and port officials told the Associated Press that he had left the country with his aides on a boat from the port of Aden. They would not disclose Hadi’s destination; he is scheduled to attend an Arab summit in Egypt on the weekend.
The letter, segments of which were posted on the official Saudi Press Agency’s website, called on the international community to use “all necessary measures” under chapter seven of the UN charter to defend Yemen’s legitimate authorities against the advance of Houthi militias on Aden. The phrase “all necessary measures” is understood to include military intervention. However, Yemen’s foreign minister and presidential sources told Reuters that the president remained in Aden. Another presidential aide told AFP that he had been rushed to a “secure location”.
Hadi’s foreign minister echoed the call in a statement carried by the Saudi agency, in which he declared that he had formally asked the Arab League for a military intervention in Yemen – a request that will be discussed in a meeting on Thursday. The US state department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters at a briefing: “We were in touch with him earlier today. He is no longer at his residence. I’m not in position to confirm any additional details from here about his location.”
“In Yemen we are racing against time for this Arab military intervention to happen as soon as possible,” foreign minister Riad Abdullah told reporters in Sharm el-Sheikh. Mohammed al-Basha, a spokesman of the Yemeni embassy in Washington, said on Twitter that Arab diplomats stationed in Aden were leaving the country.
The Saudi foreign minister, Prince Saud al-Faisal, had warned on Monday that Arab countries might take action “to protect interests from Houthi aggression”, according to Reuters. Mohammad Abdul Salam, the spokesperson of Ansar Allah, told the Houthi-backed al-Masirah TV station that Hadi was looking for a way to escape Aden by sea or air.In a message to the “people of the south”, Abdul Salam called for cooperation in the fight against terrorism and pledged that the Houthis would fight for their cause.
These latest diplomatic moves appeared to set the stage for a military intervention by neighbouring Arab states, who see the country as a key battlefield with regional rival Iran, which backs the Houthis. US officials said Saudi Arabia was moving heavy military equipment including artillery to areas near its border with Yemen, raising the prospect of military intervention, though Saudi sources said the move was purely defensive.
Similar diplomatic moves led by the Gulf states in the Arab League and the UN security council led in 2011 to the military intervention in Libya against the regime of Muammar Gaddafi. Gulf powers also intervened in Bahrain to put an end to an uprising that same year that threatened the Sunni Al Khalifa monarchy, which rules over a Shia majority. Earlier this week Hadi sent a letter to the UN security council’s president called for intervention. The letter called on the international community to use “all necessary measures” under chapter 7 of the UN charter to defend Yemen’s legitimate authorities against the advance of Houthi militias.
The Gulf states had already expressed their explicit backing of Hadi as the legitimate authority in Yemen. They had negotiated Hadi’s rise in a diplomatic initiative following popular protests against the rule of his predecessor, Ali Abdullah Saleh. Hadi’s foreign minister, Riad Abdullah, echoed the call on Wednesday, saying he had formally asked the Arab League for a military intervention in Yemen – a request that will be discussed in a meeting on Thursday.
Officials told the Associated Press that Hadi had left the country by sea on a boat from Aden. Earlier, a presidential aide told AFP that he had been rushed to “a secure location”. “In Yemen we are racing against time for this Arab military intervention to happen as soon as possible,” Abdullah told reporters in Sharm al Sheikh.
Mohammed al-Basha, the spokesperson of the Yemeni embassy in Washington, said on Twitter that Arab diplomats stationed in Aden were leaving the country. On Monday the Saudi foreign minister, Prince Saud al-Faisal, warned that Arab countries might take action “to protect interests from Houthi aggression”, according to Reuters.
Mohammad Abdul Salam, the spokesperson of Ansar Allah, another name for the rebel movement, told the Houthi-backed al-Masirah TV station that Hadi was looking for a way to escape Aden by sea or air. Similar diplomatic moves led by the Gulf states in the Arab League and the UN security council led to the military intervention in Libya against the regime of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. Gulf powers also intervened militarily in Bahrain to put an end to an uprising that same year that threatened the Sunni Al Khalifa monarchy, which rules over a Shia majority.
In a message to the “people of the south”, Abdul Salam called on them to cooperate in the fight against terrorism and pledged that the Houthis would fight for their cause. The Gulf states had already expressed their explicit backing of Hadi as the legitimate authority in Yemen. They had negotiated Hadi’s rise to the presidency in a diplomatic initiative following popular protests against the rule of his predecessor, Ali Abdullah Saleh, who is now backing the rebels.
Hadi’s support base is primarily in southern Yemen, while the Houthis’ capital, Sa’ada, is in the north.
Hadi had fled house arrest in the capital, Sana’a, this month, relocating to Aden and defiantly pledging to continue his tasks as president.
The latest southern advance, which appears to be a joint effort by the Houthis and troops loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, came as funeral services were held for some of the victims of the devastating suicide bombings last Friday that claimed the lives of over a hundred people in Sana’a. The attack was claimed by Isis.