Five years of war in Yemen .. Militias grow and legitimacy fades

Imad Murad-Doha

Five years ago, there were two sides to the crisis in Yemen. The Houthis (Ansar Allah) on one side and the Yemeni legitimacy represented by President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi and his government on the other side, and after the outbreak of the conflict between the two parties, the Arab coalition forces formed by Saudi Arabia intervened to re-establish legitimacy over Sanaa and Kamel. Yemeni territory.

After the five years, the parties turned to several parties and the objectives of Saudi Arabia and the UAE shifted from restoring legitimacy in Yemen to the division of the country by feeding the ideology of militias, the southern transitional council now dominates Aden, Lahj, Abyan and Al-Dhali and is subject to the influence of the UAE, and there are legitimate forces that control Shabwa and Hadramout Al-Mahrah is under Saudi influence, and there is the central region as well as the Houthi-controlled north.

Yemeni politicians and experts presented during the symposium held in Doha on Wednesday evening under the title "What is happening in Yemen?" Organized by the Ibn Khaldun Center in cooperation with Al Jazeera Center for Studies and the Brookings Center, the problems that are plaguing their country due to regional and international ambitions that have torn the united Yemen into multi-influential areas.

The leader of the General People's Congress in Yemen, Yasser al-Yamani, said that the objectives announced by Saudi Arabia at the beginning of the "storm of determination" did not reflect the real goals, they announced that they will restore legitimacy to Yemen and they are now hindering the work of President Hadi and his government, and they have repeatedly stressed the unity Yemeni soil and see them now support parties that tear Yemen into rival states.

Exchange of roles
Al-Yamani adds that Saudi Arabia and the UAE are exchanging roles in their goal of sharing Yemen's wealth and capabilities.The UAE has ambitions in Socotra Island, Yemeni ports, airports and oil sources.He believes that Hadi is captive to Saudi Arabia and is not allowed to go out or announce his clear position on what is happening in the country.

Al-Yamani called on the Yemeni people to adhere to their state and not allow Saudi Arabia and the UAE to expand at the expense of the Yemeni state, pointing out that the Yemeni people can not surrender to Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed or Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. "In front of a plan dealt with by Saudi Arabia and the UAE to exchange roles and what is happening is a failure of legitimacy and an attempt to fail the Yemeni state in full."

The member of the political bureau of the movement "Ansar Allah" (Houthis) Mohammed al-Bukhaiti stressed that the aggression on Yemen came in order to confiscate the Yemeni decision and the confiscation of its sovereignty and independence, saying that Hadi handed over the Yemeni decision to Mohammed bin Salman in order to subdue Yemen and not move towards his national interests.

Bakhiti, who participated in the seminar via "video conference," that the Saudi-UAE aggression failed to achieve its objectives, stressing that the peace agreement and the national partnership signed in 2014 did not give any privileges to one Yemeni party against another, but this agreement did not satisfy those who want to extract Yemeni sovereignty and control of the country's capabilities.

He added that the only legitimacy that can bring all Yemenis under the umbrella is the legitimacy of national partnership, consensus and dialogue until the elections, saying that Hadi's authority can not be considered a special legitimacy under full Saudi control in all decisions issued by that authority.

Rival parties
Head of the Department of International Affairs at the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Qatar University, Kakil Ahmed Al-Zindani, agreed with Bakhiti's intervention on the necessity of resorting to dialogue between all Yemeni parties, and abandoning the "terrorist" descriptions that are being echoed by each party against the other, considering that the regional and international environment is responsible for the worsening situation. In Yemen, especially in light of the engagement of all Yemeni parties with regional rival states.

Al-Zindani called on the Yemeni parties to concede and achieve common ground that can achieve stability in the country, stressing that in the case of adherence to the positions will be forced those parties in the near future to make major concessions to regional states that are involved in the conflict.