Move is a significant moment in civil war, but officials say UAE remains in Saudi-led coalition against Houthis

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

The United Arab Emirates has announced a “strategic redeployment” from the port city of Hodeidah in Yemen, as well as a more limited tactical retreat elsewhere in the country – marking a significant moment in Yemen’s four-year civil war.

UAE officials said the move, under discussion for as long as a year, was designed to support a United Nations-led peace process that began in Stockholm last December. It was the first official UAE confirmation of a withdrawal, which has been reported in recent weeks by witnesses and foreign officials.

Quick guide The Yemen conflict explained Show Hide How long has the war been going on? Yemen has been troubled by civil wars for decades, but the current conflict intensified in March 2015 when a Saudi-led coalition intervened on behalf of the internationally recognised government against Houthi rebels aligned with the former president Ali Abdullah Saleh. The war is widely regarded as having turned a poor country into a humanitarian catastrophe. Riyadh expected its air power, backed by regional coalition including the United Arab Emirates, could defeat the Houthi insurgency in a matter of months but instead it has triggered the world's worst humanitarian disaster, with 80% of the population - more than 24 million people - requiring assistance or protection and more than 90,000 dead.

What is the cause of the war? Its roots lie in the Arab spring. Pro-democracy protesters took to the streets in a bid to force the president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, to end his 33-year rule. He responded with economic concessions but refused to resign. By March 2011, tensions on the streets of the capital city, Sana’a, resulted in protesters dying at the hands of the military. Following an internationally brokered deal, there was a transfer of power in November to the vice-president, Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi, paving the way for elections in February 2012 – in which he was the only candidate to lead a transitional government. Hadi’s attempts at constitutional and budget reforms were rejected by Houthi rebels from the north. The Houthis captured the capital, forcing Hadi to flee eventually to Riyadh. Photograph: Mohamed Al-Sayaghi/X03689

The officials said the UAE would remain in the Saudi-led coalition that intervened in 2015 to try to restore the Yemeni government ousted from power by the Houthis, a rebel group backed by Iran.

Oversight would be passed to Emirati-trained local Yemeni forces and foreign mercenaries, and UAE forces remaining in Yemen would focus on counter-terrorism efforts against al-Qaida and Islamic State rather than the battle against the Houthis. The UAE would also continue to support a secessionist movement in southern Yemen.

Analysts have warned it is not yet clear whether local troops and Saudi coalition partners are up to the task of filling the vacuum, sparking fears that the current stalemate in much of the country could be upended.

The UAE drawdown also weakens Saudi Arabia’s military capabilities in Yemen, adding to pressure for Riyadh to proactively pursue a political rather than military solution to the war.

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The withdrawal had been extensively discussed with Riyadh as well as the UN-recognised Yemen government based in Aden, the officials added.

The UAE may be braced for accusations that the withdrawal is an admission of defeat, but the officials insisted the redeployment was a considered move reflecting the diplomatic progress being made by the UN in the strategically important Hodeidah.

Hodeidah became a major focus of the war last year when the western-backed Saudi-led coalition tried to seize the port, which is the Houthis’ main supply line.

In December the UN brokered a complex ceasefire in the city in which both the Yemeni government and Houthi forces were supposed to withdraw, leaving a new security force to take over the port and the city.

Only parts of that withdrawal agreement have been implemented. The UAE said it was keen to see the peace process expanded towards a wider peace settlement with deadlines covering the whole country.

The officials denied that the move would create a dangerous vacuum around Hodeidah, arguing that there were as many as 19,000 Yemeni troops in the port city area if progress towards a settlement collapsed.

In 2018, by contrast, the UAE had argued that the military capture of Hodeidah would force the Houthis to the negotiating table.

The international community pressed the UAE and the Saudis to wait outside the city, warning that an assault could lead to a bloodbath and disruption at the port could tip the country into full-blown famine.

Emirati officials have also dismissed suggestions that the drawdown reflects a growing rift between Abu Dhabi and Riyadh: their military and political leaders have long differed on preferred strategy in both the bloody impasse in Yemen and dealing with the threat posed to Gulf interests from Tehran.

UAE officials refused to go into details of precise troop movements and said some of the withdrawals were tactical, and so could be reversed. Witnesses have said a large-scale drawdown of troops and heavy weaponry is under way in Marib province and the interim capital of Aden as well as Hodeidah.

Last week, Reuters reported it had been told by three diplomats that Abu Dhabi preferred to have its forces and equipment on hand should tension between the US and Iran escalate further after attacks on oil tankers in the Gulf and Tehran’s suspected downing of a US drone. Those tanker attacks have been ascribed to Iranian surrogates, but no final attribution has been made by the UAE. On Monday the UAE officials said the timing was not linked to those developments.



