Yemen .. Activists accuse Saudi Arabia, the Emirates and the Houthis of exploiting relief agencies in their favor

A Yemeni studies center said that Saudi Arabia and the UAE exploited international relief agencies to prolong the war in Yemen, and accused the Houthi group of exploiting the relief efforts financially, while Saudi Arabia announced its rejection of military maneuvers conducted by the Yemeni army in the southern province of Abyan.

In his monthly report issued today, Thursday, the Sana'a Center for Studies (non-governmental) stated that "Saudi Arabia and the UAE have exploited being the largest contributors to humanitarian relief efforts in Yemen by claiming to save Yemeni lives while destroying the country's economy and infrastructure."

The report added that providing relief funds allows Saudi Arabia and the UAE to continue to feed the war, in pursuit of their goals, and that the two countries employ humanitarian aid in the war.

The report also accused the Houthi group of encircling the United Nations agencies and international organizations, until relief efforts, which cost about four billion dollars in 2019, became a major source of income for the group.

The report considered that the international agencies and organizations waived their principles to try to secure access to the needy by satisfying the Houthi authorities, which ultimately contributed to providing the group's sources of income, as the latter imposes its orders on how to store and transport aid, where, when and who is distributed.

The report also clarified that the United Nations' inability to persuade the Houthis not to interfere has prompted donors to publicly threaten to withdraw funding, and in the event that it will put significant pressure on the value of the local currency, as foreign aid is a major source of foreign currency in the country.

Abyan maneuvers
On the other hand, the Saudi ambassador to Yemen, Muhammad Al Jaber, said on Twitter that "the conduct of military exercises by the Yemeni government in the Shakra region (south of Abyan), and the talk of their military leaders about the zero hour, is unacceptable."

The ambassador considered that this is unacceptable in light of the Riyadh agreement, which aims to return the government to Aden, and at a time when the governorates of Marib, Al-Jawf and Al-Dali are subject to attacks by the Houthi group, he said.

Military sources said yesterday that the Yemeni army had carried out maneuvers in the coastal region of Shakra, to which it withdrew after being targeted by UAE air strikes at the eastern entrance to Aden, in late August 2019.

After the maneuvers, local media quoted the commander of the Abyan axis of the army, Abdullah Al-Subaihi, as saying that his forces were ready pending the orders of President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi and the leadership of the Arab Alliance to implement the tasks assigned to them.

Yemeni sources said that severe clashes erupted in the Sirwah District, west of Ma'rib Governorate, between the army and the Houthis, while the Houthis said that the Saudi-Emirati coalition aircraft launched yesterday 11 raids in Sarwah, and there was no information about casualties.