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  • Developments in Yemen

    The president of Yemen has resigned along with his prime minister as Shia Houthi rebels tighten their grip on the capital Sanaa.

    President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi and Prime Minister Khaled Baha tendered their resignations to parliament which reportedly refused to accept them.

    The move came despite a deal to make political concessions to the rebels.

    Rebel figures welcomed the news with one reportedly proposing the creation of a ruling presidential council.

    The council would include Houthi-led groups, Abu al-Malek Yousef al-Fishi was quoted as saying by Reuters news agency.

    Houthi leaders had previously committed themselves to withdrawing from key positions around the presidential palace and the home of President Hadi.

    The US, which is helping fight al-Qaeda militants in Yemen, said it was still assessing the implications of President Hadi's move.

    'Political maze'
    In his letter of resignation, seen by the Associated Press news agency, Mr Hadi said the parties had reached a "deadlock".

    "We found out that we are unable to achieve the goal, for which we bear a lot of pain and disappointment," he said.

    A government source told the BBC ministers were resigning in protest at the rebels' challenge to Yemen's sovereignty and their seizure of state institutions.

    In his resignation letter, Prime Minister Baha said the cabinet did not want to be dragged into an "unconstructive political maze".

    Earlier this week, Houthi gunmen fired on Mr Baha's convoy and then laid siege to the presidential palace, where he was staying.

    line
    Analysis: Sebastian Usher, BBC World Service
    The resignation of the Yemeni president and his government is likely to plunge an already unstable country into uncharted territory.

    It comes just a day after a deal was announced between the president and the Houthi rebels that was meant to paper over the sharpest edges of the current crisis.

    The rebels received the concessions they demanded. For their part, they were meant to withdraw from the presidential palace and from Mr Hadi's own house, as well as releasing a presidential aide they abducted last week.

    They have done none of this. Mr Hadi and his government say they cannot continue under such conditions. Yemen was already close to chaos - now it seems it has no president and no government.

    Then on Wednesday the home of President Hadi was shelled, shattering a ceasefire that had been agreed only hours earlier.

    The ceasefire deal had met a series of rebel demands including the expansion of Houthi representation in parliament and state institution.

    In return, the rebels said they would pull back from their positions and free the president's chief of staff, whom they have held since Saturday. But so far they have not done so.

    The Houthis, who follow a branch of Shia Islam known as Zaidism, have staged periodic uprisings since 2004 in an effort to win greater autonomy for their northern heartland of Saada province.

    Since July the rebels have inflicted defeats on tribal and militia groups backed by the leading Sunni Islamist party, Islah, and battled al-Qaeda as they have pushed into central and western provinces.
    BBC News - Yemen crisis: President resigns as rebels tighten hold

  • #2
    Let us wait an see how things develop in Yemen. The Houthis did not expect the President to resgin, now there is a leadership vacuum.

    Cheers!...on the rocks!!

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    • #3
      With the Houthis expanding south towards Aden, the Saudis have started air strikes to try and weaken the Houthis.
      The news is that the Egyptians will launch an amphibious assault from the south and Saudis will move in from the north.

      The Saudis actually don't have the stomach for a ground attack and are hoping for a coalition to form for the ground assault.
      However, the situation is rather fluid so anything can happen.

      But at the present the Saudis are satisfied bombing the Houthis from air, with US assistance in IDing targets (thank God for that, or poor Yemenis would get bombed instead).

      Cheers!...on the rocks!!

      Comment


      • #4
        Yemen is again in chaos, and civil war raging in most cities.
        Civic amenities have broken down and expats are leaving in droves.

        The Indian Navy has evacuated most Indians and many nations are requesting Indian help to evacuate their nations.

        A grim scenario is in store for the people there.

        Cheers!...on the rocks!!

        Comment


        • #5
          This is a brilliant stroke by the Iranians if the reports of their influence are to be believed and true. Iran has managed to imbroil Saudis into a conflict that could sap Saudi's resources and attention, making the Saudis unable to counter Iran in other areas. It could be a quagmire for the Saudis who may find it hard to extract itself out of the situation.

          Comment


          • #6
            Originally posted by lemontree View Post
            With the Houthis expanding south towards Aden, the Saudis have started air strikes to try and weaken the Houthis.
            The news is that the Egyptians will launch an amphibious assault from the south and Saudis will move in from the north.

            The Saudis actually don't have the stomach for a ground attack and are hoping for a coalition to form for the ground assault.
            However, the situation is rather fluid so anything can happen.

            But at the present the Saudis are satisfied bombing the Houthis from air, with US assistance in IDing targets (thank God for that, or poor Yemenis would get bombed instead).
            The Egyptian Army was involved in the past in Yemen.It didn't end well.
            Those who know don't speak
            He said to them, "But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don't have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one. Luke 22:36

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            • #7
              Originally posted by Blademaster View Post
              This is a brilliant stroke by the Iranians if the reports of their influence are to be believed and true. Iran has managed to imbroil Saudis into a conflict that could sap Saudi's resources and attention, making the Saudis unable to counter Iran in other areas. It could be a quagmire for the Saudis who may find it hard to extract itself out of the situation.
              That is a big "if". We might just be drinking Saudi kool-aid. Here's Tarek Fatah in the Toronto Sun:

              Saudi Arabia fools the West, again

              Yet another war has broken out within Islam.

              The richest nations of the Arab world are pummeling one of the poorest people on earth – the Yemenis.

              As the deaths of helpless civilians mount, a lie of Goebellian scale is being perpetuated on the rest of us, who seem to have learned little from the propaganda that gave us Saddam Hussein’s “weapons of mass destruction”.

              This time the bogeyman is Iran’s tentacles choking the sea lanes of Bab-el-Mandeb that separate Yemen from the African coast.

              While the vast majority of Islamic terror attacks on the West, Middle East and South Asia have been conducted by Sunni Muslim jihadis, Saudi Arabia has somehow convinced us it is Shiite Islam and Iran that are to blame.

              Now the Saudis have taken on the task of restoring democracy in Yemen by backing President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, who was ousted in a popular insurgency by the Ansar Allah Party, better known as the Houthis.

              The only problem is that none of the countries in the Saudi-led coalition of oil-rich Gulf Arab sheikhdoms that purportedly seek to restore democracy in Yemen have ever faced their own electorates.

              In addition, they are the very countries that have been the source of funding for the world’s worst jihadi terrorist organizations, nations that have funded tens of thousands of Islamic madrassahs that churn out jihadis willing to die for Islam’s victory over the kufaar, the hated non-Muslim infidel.


              The lie that has been floated and gobbled up by western analysts and politicians is that the Yemeni Houthis are a product of Iranian intervention in Yemen and thus pose a threat to western interests as well as the security of Israel.

              Nothing could be further from the truth.

              The Finnish anthropologist Susanne Dahlgren, who has lived in Yemen, points out in the Middle East Research and Information Project this week that the Shiite and Iranian links being slapped on to the Houthis have little substance.

              She writes: “The Western media shorthand designating the Houthis as ‘Iran-backed’ and ‘Shiite’ is misleading at best, since Houthi grievances are home grown and the Zaydi sect to which the Houthis belong is a distant cousin of the Twelver Shi’ism championed by the Islamic Republic in Tehran.”


              Dahlgren goes on to say, “Much huffing and puffing by Gulf (Arab) media notwithstanding, there was little evidence that Iran aided the Houthis in the intermittent fighting of 2004-2010, certainly not to the extent of Saudi Arabia’s military intervention against the Houthis in 2009.”

              For the United States and, unfortunately, Canada to throw their weight behind this coalition of medieval dictators is not only unprincipled, but also suggests Middle East petro dollars and possible defence contacts are shaping Western foreign policy.

              The Saudis have been very successful in convincing the West that it is not they who pose a threat to our liberties, but Iran.

              This notwithstanding the fact that as early as November, 2013, the BBC’s diplomatic editor, Mark Urban, broke the news that Saudi Arabia had invested in Pakistan’s nuclear weapons projects for its own needs.

              Urban reported, “several nuclear weapons made in Pakistan for Saudi Arabia are sitting, waiting for delivery.”

              Canada should resist the temptations offered by Saudi Arabia, a regime accused of buying nukes off the shelf from a potentially hostile nuclear power – Pakistan, not Iran.

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by Blademaster View Post
                This is a brilliant stroke by the Iranians if the reports of their influence are to be believed and true. Iran has managed to imbroil Saudis into a conflict that could sap Saudi's resources and attention, making the Saudis unable to counter Iran in other areas. It could be a quagmire for the Saudis who may find it hard to extract itself out of the situation.
                Saudis have been screwing with Yemen since the 60s. Why ? because Yemen is more populated.

                At the time they supported the monarchists against Nasser who supported the republicans. Egyptians won that round.

                Now we see Egypt on the side of the Saudis because they're dependent on Gulf largesse to keep their economy afloat.

                Any framing of conflict in Yemen as shia sunni conflict is hype. Watch this for background.

                Word is the Saudis asked the Paks for 40k troops. Paks don't want to get embroiled but its hard to refuse the Saudis.
                Last edited by Double Edge; 07 Apr 15,, 18:07.

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                • #9
                  Originally posted by lemontree View Post
                  The Indian Navy has evacuated most Indians and many nations are requesting Indian help to evacuate their nations.

                  A grim scenario is in store for the people there.
                  Air force too. In a repurposed C-17



                  Been quite a few evacuations of late, Lebanon, Libya, Ukraine and now Yemen.
                  Last edited by Double Edge; 07 Apr 15,, 18:08.

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                  • #10

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Originally posted by Double Edge View Post
                      Saudis have been screwing with Yemen since the 60s. Why ? because Yemen is more populated.

                      .
                      The population stats adds weight to this argument.

                      Saudis are around 23M and UAE 9M ( with roughly 7.5M expat !)

                      Saudis have bombed both Houtis and Saleh army. So Saudis have almost made the entire Yemen their adversary !

                      Saudis are in sh*** trouble if Yemenis decide to turn their attention North. UAE would have no chance.

                      Saudis are concentrating on destroying conventional capabilities in Yemen.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Originally posted by Double Edge View Post
                        Saudis have been screwing with Yemen since the 60s. Why ? because Yemen is more populated.
                        I don't follow? What does the population have to do with screw-worthiness? Saudis have been screwing with Yemen because they consider it their backyard. Much like Pakistan and Afghanistan. They want their southern flank nice and Wahabi so that they can focus on blowing up the Levant. No fancy socialism or Islamic revolutions allowed.

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                        • #13
                          They had a border conflict which resulted in a treaty in 1934 defining the present borders between the two countries. This treaty delineated the 1800 km border between the two countries. The Saudis have been keeping Yemen off blaance so it does not come back and challenge that treaty. There have been sporadic tensions between the two countries at times.



                          Watch the video linked to earlier for some background.

                          There is no guarantee if the Houthis take over that they will not cause trouble for the Saudis.

                          Saudis supported the monarchists in the 60s who were shia. But Nasser pushed for republicanism. Saudis don't like that or MB. Challenges to their system.

                          Saudis & US supported Saleh to go after AQAP. Saleh joined the Houthis after he stepped down. he's been in charge since '78 and does not want to go quietly. His military are sunni.

                          Saleh supported Saddam during the first gulf war. The guy makes u-turns whenever its in his interest.

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                          • #14
                            Originally posted by Double Edge View Post
                            Word is the Saudis asked the Paks for 40k troops. Paks don't want to get embroiled but its hard to refuse the Saudis.
                            Pakistan will dare not enter its troops in this war, as they will tangle with Iranian interests.
                            Iran can then get back at them in Balochistan.

                            Cheers!...on the rocks!!

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                            • #15
                              AMB KC singh was hinting they might send retired soldiers instead. Advisors.

                              Balochistan is something the Paks & Iran agree on. Helps to keep resistance on either side down. This is why Iran can do hot pursuits across the IB without much protest.

                              I doubt the Paks will get entangled. It will definitely boomerang back.

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