Al Jazeera Net - Private

The UAE has embarrassed the Yemeni government delegation in Sweden's consultations sponsored by UN envoy to Yemen Martin Griffith, which seeks a political solution and a halt to the war in Yemen since 2015.

During the consultations, the Government delegation insisted on upholding the three terms of reference as the basis for any political solution, including Security Council resolution 2216 (2015), which calls for the withdrawal of armed militias from cities and the handing over of heavy weapons to the State.

The decision, which condemned the Huthis as a point of strength for their negotiating delegation, demanded the head of the delegation, Mohamed Abdel Salam, to withdraw the weapons of the UAE-backed forces as organized militias that have funding and weapons and does not recognize the legitimacy of Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi.

Abdel Salam said in a press statement on the sidelines of the consultations that it is not possible for the Houthi group to surrender its weapons and put its fate in the hands of militias run from abroad.

The security forces have received good arming and control over three Yemeni governorates in addition to Aden (social networking sites)

UAE role
The United Arab Emirates oversees local forces loyal to it in Yemen and has been based on control of the south of the country, including major ports and airports, which critics call an "occupation."

The UAE intervened in Yemen with Saudi Arabia in a war against the Houthis who turned against the legitimacy of Hadi. Four years later, the war led to significant influence for the Saudi-UAE alliance in the poorest country on the Arabian Peninsula.

Abu Dhabi built local combat units and equipped them with modern equipment. At the beginning of the year, it fought fierce battles against the forces loyal to the Yemeni government in the city of Aden, which ended with the defeat of the latter.

According to an official in the prime minister's office, the UAE-run forces are "armed militias with no military legitimacy, formed under circumstances outside the state context, and do not recognize the legitimacy of the president."

"These militias are no different from the Houthis, except that what we have with the Houthis is hostility, while the UAE militias are calculated as not clearly hostile to the government," the official told Al-Jazeera Net.

Who are those militias?
According to a research by Al Jazeera Net, the "Emirati militias" show the forces of the "security belt" led by Hani Ben Brik, vice president of the so-called "Southern Transition Council," which demands self-rule in southern Yemen.

Ben Brik owes allegiance to the rulers of Abu Dhabi and does not recognize the Yemeni government. The UAE has therefore entrusted him with the leadership of some 13,000 fighters, according to a Yemeni military source.

These forces extend their control over three provinces in addition to Aden, namely Lahj, Abyan and Dhale.

Followed by the forces of the "First Brigade Support and Support" led by Abu Yamamah, who is embroiled in flag and uniform Emirati, and has already pledged to expel President Hadi and his government from the south of the country, as they have no legitimacy in the south.

Most of the brigade's troops are stationed in the camp of "martyr Iyad bin Suhail" in Aden, and its three thousand soldiers form a force for the UAE.

In the oil-rich province of Shabwa in southwestern Yemen, the UAE formed the "Shababan elite" of about 3,500 fighters. The other does not recognize the Yemeni government. A week ago, the security chief refused to take orders to allow tribal men to pass through.

The "elite of Hadramiya" consists of about 2700 armed men belonging to the province of Hadramout in eastern Yemen, supervised and trained by the UAE. But despite its loyalty to Abu Dhabi, it is operationally linked to the second military zone of the Yemeni Ministry of Defense.

The security belt forces consist of some 13,000 fighters according to some estimates (the sites of communication)

Nostalgia for Saleh's regime
But the most recent force created by the UAE is the "Guardians of the Republic" force, led by Tariq Saleh, the son of the brother of late President Ali Abdullah Saleh, with four brigades of at least 11,000 fighters, according to a military source.

The troops are based in the city of Mukha on the Red Sea coast in the west of the country. According to the source who spoke to Al Jazeera Net, these forces were formed mostly loyal to Ali Abdullah Saleh, who was killed by the Houthis.

The "Guardians of the Republic" are seen as the candidates for control of the city of Hodeidah in western Yemen and its strategic harbor, which receives 80% of the country's imports and relief aid. To this day, these forces refuse to recognize the legitimacy of Hadi.

Disarming "the UAE militias" first
The Yemeni government has condoned the existence of these "militias" away from its legitimacy by fighting the Houthis, the government's main enemy. But the Houthis in the Swedish consultations demanded first to withdraw the weapons from the "UAE militias", as a step to achieve the principle of justice.

According to journalist Abdul Raqeeb al-Hudaiani, the "UAE militias" formed a point of strength for the Houthi negotiator and a major weakness for the government delegation.

"The government delegation is talking about withdrawing the Huthi militias from the cities while the UAE militias are expanding in the south of the country. The Huthis are demanding the release of the prisoners, while there are hundreds of prisoners among the Emiratis," he said.

"When the government delegation asked for the port of Hodeidah, the country's ports are still in the hands of the Emiratis," he said.

"The UAE is still able to tame the militias and integrate them into the Yemeni state and impose a different reality on them," said Hadiani, deputy editor of the official newspaper "October 14".