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| Arabia |
| Rising tensions between Yemen's Southern Movement and UAE forces |
| 2015-10-23 |
| SANAA - The Yemeni government's decision to leave Aden and return to Riyadh suddenly on Sunday follows attacks on government buildings and rising tensions between the Arab coalition forces who helped seize back the city from the Houthi rebels, and the southern separatist movement. The Yemeni government announced that its ministers had left Aden for Riyadh on Sunday evening because of the lack of adequate buildings for ministers to work in. However, some analysts say that the government left the country because of the disputes in Aden, which have seen deadly attacks on government buildings and on the Red Crescent in recent days. Yemen's Prime Minister Khaled Bahah escaped unharmed after an attack on 6 October on the hotel where he was staying. The attack was claimed by Islamic State, although authorities in Aden blamed the strikes on the Houthis. Fadhl Al-Rabei, a political analyst and the head of Madar Strategic Studies Centre in Aden, told MEE: "The Yemeni government left Aden for Riyadh under the pretext that there are not proper buildings in Aden for the ministers, while the ministers knew that there were not buildings before they came to Aden." Yemen's government returned to Aden in September, six months after fleeing to Riyadh in the wake of the Houthi advance. But rising insecurity in the city since the Houthi withdrawal, as well as tensions with the Southern Movement which fought alongside the Arab coalition forces, have made it difficult to establish a functioning government. When the coalition forces arrived in Aden in July, all groups including the Southern Movement welcomed them and considered them liberators of the city after four months of war. The Emirates led the operation to push Houthi rebels out of the city with the support of the Resistance in Aden. When coalition forces entered the city, headed by Emirati forces, there was no opposition, and after driving the Houthis out of Aden, the UAE started to prepare the city as the temporary capital of Yemen and to host the government. The Emirates took on the responsibility of rebuilding the city and - with the help of the Resistance - controlling public institutions in Aden. However, the Southern Movement was unhappy about the setting up of the government in Aden, and advocated the separation of Yemen with Aden as the capital of the newly restored South Yemen. More at the link |
| Posted by:badanov |