According to the Riyadh Agreement, will the "transitional" hand over weapons to the state in Yemen?

The dispute between the Yemeni government and the UAE-backed "transitional council" over the military aspect of the Riyadh agreement has come to the fore again, after the council announced the formation of a joint military commission for its forces that had drawn criticism from Saudi observers and analysts, opening the door to many questions about the possibility of implementation This notch.

The Transitional Council is a political entity, established by the former governor of Aden, Aidaroos Al-Zubaidi, in May 2017, calling for the secession of southern Yemen, and it has received Emirati military and financial support that enabled it to establish special forces and emerge as an anti-legitimacy authority and the internationally recognized Yemeni government.

Its forces include the "Security Belt Forces", which were formed in 3 southern governorates, namely Aden, Lahj, and Abyan, and the "Elite Forces" in Shabwa and Hadramout. The exact number of those forces' members is not known, but it is estimated that there are more than 30,000 fighters in Aden alone.

The transitional possesses light, medium and heavy weapons such as the tanks it seized after its battles against government forces in a series of rounds of "violence" that ended in August 2019 with its control of the temporary capital, Aden.

The dispute between him and the government comes after weeks of political calm, according to the Riyadh Agreement signed on November 5, 2019 under Saudi sponsorship and UN support, with the aim of ending the tension between the two parties, and this agreement included a political and military part.

The Transitional Council, which was established on May 11, 2017, received financial and military support from Abu Dhabi (Al-Jazeera)

Refusal and conditions

Although the two parties had gone the main way to the agreement, as a new government was formed with the participation of the Transitional Council, and a governor was appointed to Aden from among its leaders, the terms of the military side still face many obstacles and obstacles, in light of the transitional refusal to respond to the request to withdraw weapons and integrate its forces into The state's military establishment.

The terms of this section stipulate the departure of the military forces from Aden, the integration of the security and military units of the transitional under the leadership of the Ministries of Defense and the Interior, in addition to the withdrawal of heavy weapons, and the redeployment of the government's security forces to carry out their tasks.

In an attempt to find out the transitional’s position on this matter, Mansour Saleh, deputy head of the Media Department in the Transitional Council, affirmed that "the mechanism to accelerate the implementation of the Riyadh Agreement did not provide for the handover of heavy weapons, but rather pushing the armed forces to the fronts to confront Al-Houthi."

He said in an interview with Al-Jazeera Net, "It is not logical to surrender your weapons to your opponent while you are in a state of war with an enemy that is stalking you." Without the minister, "not as it is now.

The time has come for the Transitional Council to implement (all) the terms of the military aspect of the Riyadh Agreement.

Any delay in that will make them just another side of the Iranian division currency;

The face of Houthi and the face of #transitional.

This will be a scourge for this fledgling party and its supporters.

The security of # Yemen is at the heart of Arab national security; history will not be merciful!

pic.twitter.com/Npx1vK3CA1

- Salman Al-Ansari (@ Salansar1) February 10, 2021

This position is supported by a previous statement by well-informed military sources in the government a few days ago, in which they talked about the Transitional Council's rejection of the government's request to hand over heavy weapons in its camps in Aden, and its setting conditions in order to start implementing the military and security aspect of the Riyadh Agreement.

Among these conditions stipulated by the transitional "not to hand over its various weapons to the ministries of defense and interior, and to demand high positions in the two ministries and share them with the components of legitimacy headed by President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi."

Saudi Arabia sponsored a reconciliation agreement between the Transitional Council and the legitimate government on November 5, 2019 (Al-Jazeera)

A new escalation

In light of these complications, the official of the Saudi-American Public Relations Affairs Committee, Salman Al-Ansari, responded - through his Twitter account - to the conditions by calling on the Transitional Council to quickly implement the provisions of the Riyadh Agreement in the military and security aspects and not to convert to another side of the divisive Iranian currency in Yemen.

Al-Ansari wrote, "The time has come for the transitional council to implement (all) the terms of the military aspect of the Riyadh agreement. Any delay in that will make them just another face of the divisive Iranian currency, the face of Houthi and the face of transitional, and that will be a shame for this emerging party and its supporters." It is at the core of Arab national security, and history will have no mercy! "

In a new escalation, the transitional council announced yesterday, Thursday, the establishment of what is called the "Joint Operations Authority of the Southern Armed Forces," thus placing new obstacles in the face of the Saudi leadership in Aden, which is tasked with implementing the agreement, prompting some Saudi leaders to break their silence.

What is the name (Joint Operations Commission for the Southern Armed Forces)?

Who ordered this structure?

Is it not considered a rebel force?

Since they are part of the government!

And does this not contradict with the Riyadh agreement, which merged them into the army?

And with the Security Council resolutions on the unity, stability and territorial integrity of Yemen?

https://t.co/VF9Jdds5sm

- Suleiman Al-Aqili (@aloqeliy) February 18, 2021

Saudi political analyst Sulaiman Al-Aqili asked in a tweet on his Twitter account about the purpose of forming this body, adding, "Is it not considered a rebel force? Since they are part of the government! Does this not contradict the Riyadh agreement that integrated them into the army and the Security Council resolutions on the unity of Yemen?" And its stability and territorial integrity?

Political analyst Turki Al-Qablan asked in another tweet, "Are we facing a state within the Yemeni state? Is this not undermining the Riyadh agreement? What does it mean to form a joint operations body for the southern armed forces?"

Analysts and observers exclude the transitional’s approval of handing over weapons and merging its forces, considering that the survival of weapons is more important for the transitional than their entry into the government, and they are likely to seek the transitional during the next stage to combine the survival of weapons with control and participation in the government.

Abu Dhabi project

In this context, the advisor to the Minister of Information in the legitimate government, Mukhtar Al-Rahbi, expresses his lack of optimism about the successful implementation of the military aspect of the announced agreement, and he attributes this to the fact that the UAE is still in control of the decision of the Council, and believes that the dismantling of these forces and their integration into state institutions will lose any influence on the Yemeni scene, According to him.

He said in an interview with Al-Jazeera Net that the military and security part of the agreement has not been fully implemented, and what has been implemented is limited to stopping the war in Abyan and the limited withdrawal of the warring forces only, while in Aden, the STC forces are still in full control of the security and military files in the city.

Al-Rahbi added, "I do not think that the UAE, which spent more than $ 4 and a half billion on establishing these forces, will accept their integration into the army and security framework, as this means the collapse of the Abu Dhabi project, which is to seize strategic areas and sea ports in Yemen."

Are we in front of a state within the Yemeni state?

Is this not undermining the Riyadh Agreement?

What does it mean to form a joint operations body for the Southern Armed Forces? Https: //t.co/wr9EeKC7B4

Turki Al-Qablan (@TurkiGoblan) February 18, 2021

For his part, Ali al-Dhahab, an expert on security and military affairs, believes that weapons are a means to impose political will, "and the transitional council has clear goals, objectives and agendas, and thus it will remain attached to weapons and wait for the opportunity until new transformations occur that support its direction of secession."

In an interview with Al-Jazeera Net, he said that the Riyadh agreement was for the transitional an opportunity to achieve a political gain only, while preserving its military capacity until another shift occurs at the macro level of the Yemeni crisis in general, which transfers this crisis to another reality that allows it to implement its goals, according to him.

Al-Dhahab added, "The transitional, like any armed group that seeks to gain power, has a strategic goal and a special agenda, and controls its decisions by regional parties more than it is a local group that has lofty goals, and this is why its leaders are afraid of melting into the blocs without claws and fangs."