Aden coup .. Why the Saudi position suddenly changed?

Al Jazeera Net - Special

The coup of the Southern Transitional Council (NTC) against the legitimate Yemeni government lasted only 17 days.

Control began from the city of Shabwa, through the province of Abyan, where he hails from Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, and then go to the provisional capital of Aden and expand to the province of Lahj in the south.

But the most prominent question that comes to minds many about the fact that the reasons why Saudi Arabia changed its attitude towards the transitional council and support legitimacy militarily, politically and media, as the Saudi writers in the past few days appeared to be working completely against the wishes and calls of those close to the Crown Prince of Mohammed bin Zayed to demand secession.

Al-Jazeera Net spoke with a Yemeni government minister who said that Riyadh is well aware that its fate is closely linked to the legitimate Yemeni government that has hosted it in Riyadh for five years and is recognized by the whole world. Transitional practices and provocative language did not live up to it much.

The Yemeni minister added that "Saudi Arabia reassured Hadi from early on when the situation in Aden exploded, and there were serious moves to contain the matter through communication with the UAE side and consultation in order to retreat from the insurgency that occurred, and when it came to the province of Shabwa, which represents the side The Saudi National Security Agency mobilized Riyadh and took the decision and gave the government the green light to act to secure it. "

"Saudi Arabia was silent when Aden and Abyan were taken over by the UAE-backed transitional government," he said. "Saudi Arabia was late and did not intervene directly, but it is reckoned that it has rectified the situation and supported the Yemeni government's choice to re-establish its influence."

The reality of change
In the same direction, a presidential source told Al Jazeera Net that without the Saudi support, the legitimate forces would not have been able to make the progress that has taken place. The source pointed out that "the fact that the change in the Saudi attitude towards the recent events in the south is due to the absurd practices of the Transitional Council that made Saudi Arabia in an embarrassing situation as if Powerless to do anything. "

"The deputy chairman of the so-called transitional council Hani bin Brik appeared and challenged Saudi Arabia publicly and refused to comply with the coalition calls to hand over government headquarters, but insulted it by talking about the resilience of the Houthis, which also did a number of Emirati figures who abused To Saudi Arabia in the media. "

He added that "it reached a dead end for Saudi Arabia, and therefore had no choice but to support the legitimacy and enable them to extend their influence in Aden and re-consider the fact of sincerity of its support for the legitimate government first."

Perhaps reinforced by the fact that Saudi Arabia has changed its position is what Yemeni Minister of Transport Saleh al-Jubani recently revealed when he said that Saudi Arabia had access to information about the south through false UAE intelligence reports, and said that Saudi Arabia now has its direct channels of communication and its own vision regarding the events of the south.

Enable legitimacy
To refute the reality of the shift in the Saudi position more deeply, Al-Jazeera Net spoke with the Yemeni military expert, Ali al-Dahab, who said that this happened, although it is not so much a concern for the existence of legitimacy as a concern of Saudi Arabia for its interests, especially since its presence in the south was considered a formality and had no claws. The fangs as the UAE did in the formation of elite forces and the security belt to serve its agenda.

He predicted that the gold will be the voice of the legitimate government in the coming periods, especially in the event that Aden is under its partial control, which means that the battle will remain open unless the process of control and full security in the coming days without stop.

Al-Dahab said that there is likely to be a political dialogue after enabling the legitimate government to control Aden, especially if there are Emirati pressures.

In the event of legitimacy extending its influence on Aden, al-Dahab said that there would be a real military cohesion on the ground and the level of forces between the fourth military zone, which includes Abyan, Lahj, Aden and al-Dhali with the second military zone in Mukalla, Hadramout, as well as the third military zone, which includes the provinces of Abyan and Shabwa. Government forces in these areas with the first military zone in Sayun, eastern Yemen.

Geopolitically, this area represents a "golden crescent" according to gold, where there are international routes linking Yemen, Saudi Arabia and Oman, and areas of oil and gas export, as well as the main ports of Yemen.

According to the expert, this means that the region will become of great value to enable President Hadi to return to the country, and the government may impose itself in any upcoming political dialogue after it was lacking control of these cities and supervised by forces loyal to the UAE.