Q&A: Political Developments on the Yemeni Arena
Question and Answer
Political Developments on the Yemeni Arena
(Translated)
Question:
Media reported on the day of Eid al-Fitr, 28/07/2014, that Ali Saleh, the former President of Yemen had prayed Eid along with Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, the current president, as if they were good friends! While Hadi, since taking office has done work that demolished what Saleh built during his thirty years of his rule, of building army leaders loyal to the British of his sons, cousins, relatives and loyalists, but Hadi cut their wings! He also held cabinet, military and security reshuffles a month ago, in the framework of the so-called government reforms. America had his influence on the introduction of ministers affiliated with it and the dismissal of leaders in the era of Saleh including his children and relatives… and the influence of America in these decisions is obvious… Hadi took a soft stand towards the Houthis. This was evident during the Houthis’ occupation of Imran in 09/07/2014 and the killing of a brigade commander… This, as well as the attacks that took place against the Ministry of Defence and the rumours that they are coups on Hadi and that Ali Saleh was behind it, which means that Hadi and Saleh are mortal enemies and are not close friends! So how can this be understood? Especially that Hadi was Saleh’s vice president, and if has was not like him walking with the British he wouldn’t have appointed him as his deputy, so how can he antagonize him so? I have been mixed up on these things, could you please clarify this matter:
Is Hadi walking with the English or with America? Then were the attacks on the Ministry of Defence coup attempts?
Answer:
First: Hadi’s political reality, and walking with the English or with America:
The answer to this question requires that we go back a little bit and then get back to the current events:
1. Since the sixties of the past century and the conflict over Yemen intensifies between America and Britain, its old colonizer. That is, since the Sallal coup in 1962, which America was behind and the Republic of Yemen was declared. Britain remained in South Yemen until it established a Republic in it in 1967, and withdrew militarily from there. The Egyptian pro-America regime, headed by Abdel Nasser, led the war for its account in North Yemen until the defeat of the Egyptian army in the War of 1967, and then it pulled out of it … As a result, Britain in this year, 1967, overthrew Abdullah Sallal, the American agent, and brought its own agents to power in the North; bringing the North and the South under the British control. But the conflict continued between the two colonial states, the old one and the new one, by coups… until Britain brought its agent, Ali Abdullah Saleh, in the North in 1978, and the head of the regime in the South was Salem Al-Baid. Britain saw, that in order to maintain its influence and to stand in the face of America, it should unite the two parts of Yemen, headed by its agent Ali Abdullah Saleh, and so it was in 1990. When elections were held in Yemen in 1993 and the party Ali Saleh won, Ali Salem considered it a killing for his influence… So America exploited this and was able to embrace Salem Al-Baid to his side, so that his loyalty to it was in exchange for a promise to reinstate him as the president of the South after its separation from the North … and so it was; thus Al-Baid declared the separation of the south in an open rebellion. But Britain through Ali Abdullah Saleh’s regime, and its other agents in the region managed to fail this rebellion, and the British influence continued in Yemen. However, America did not stop its work by its agents in the Southern Movement and elsewhere, and it added to that the work by Iran and its followers of al-Houthi and his group who began leading an armed rebellion since 2004. And the work of America still continues in Yemen by its agents in the Southern Movement and elsewhere, and by Iran and al-Houthi and his followers.
2. When the popular protests erupted in Yemen and people revolted in 2011, demanding the overthrow of the regime, America moved to exploit it to cause the pro-British Ali Abdullah Saleh’s regime to fall, and then distort the objectives of the people’s protests … and establish a regime loyal to it in order to extend its influence in the country. America exerted efforts through its followers as mentioned above, and was determined to depose Ali Saleh from the presidency because he was loyal to Britain, standing firmly in the face of America … Britain felt that America is serious about it, so it went on its usual way, to take the initiative for a solution that preserves its influence and in which it keeps pace with America and satisfies it by giving it something that does not make Britain lose its influence in Yemen. So it moved its tools in the Gulf States, and launched in the beginning of April 2011 the Gulf Initiative which requires the resignation of Ali Abdullah Saleh, pledge not to prosecute him and hand over his powers to his deputy Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, who is loyal to it. Then to hold elections within two months and after that begin to work for a new constitution. America has approved the initiative and considered it an interim step in the removal of Ali Abdullah Saleh. Because it saw in him the strong man of Britain in Yemen, while it saw that Hadi is soft and is easier for it to deal with him according to its interests more than it could with Ali Saleh. Yemen News – Reuters quoted on 14/08/2013 what indicates that; it said, “Washington finds Hadi a more amendable partner than Saleh”. Thus America saw the possibility of weakening Britain’s influence in Yemen after the disposal of the British strong agent, Ali Abdullah Saleh. America considered the initiative as an interim step, and in particular that it was behind sending Jamal Bin Omar, the UN envoy for the implementation of the initiative, the dialogue and the Constitution.
Britain is ingrained in political cunningness; and it has weakened as a major global power and became unable to stand up in heated confrontation with America. So it has pursued a policy of keeping pace with America and not to confront it, but to please Washington in order to preserve the British influence, even by giving up something in the short term and retrieving it over the long term, rather over the medium term… For example, when America became impatient with the former Ameer of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad and his foreign minister, to the extent that Britain feared the disruption of its influence in Qatar… At the time, and to satisfy America, Britain disposed the Ameer of Qatar and his foreign minister, and put in the place Sheikh Hamad his son, Sheikh Tamim. Thus America was pleased and subsided hostilities against Qatar, thinking that the new prince would be “lighter” on its policy … And so, things calmed down a bit, but they returned in accordance with the role the English assigned for the new Prince, it returned to worry the American policy as it was before, as it is witnessed and perceived now. .. Such was the case for Hadi, as Britain has agreed on the removal of Ali Saleh and the appointment of his deputy in his place, and America accepted it… and that is what it was.
3. Hadi is one of the British men; he also grew up under the British rule in the south. And the first one to be impressed by him was who was called “the political officer” in the British rule at the time; that is, the officer who was responsible for security in the region. Abed Rabbo Mansour has worked as a personal bodyguard for this officer who later became the ambassador to the United Kingdom in a number of Arab capitals. The relationship of Abed Rabbo Mansour with the British had enabled him to get a scholarship to Royal Military College Sandhurst in Britain, where he graduated in 1968, and he returned to his country in the ranks of the National Army prior to Britain giving the “independence” to South Yemen … He then served in the Democratic Republic People of South Yemen. After a split in the Southern regime, in 1986, he worked in the armed forces in the Arab Republic of Yemen with Saleh, and played an important role in the integration of thousands of troops who fled the South after the civil war in 1986, in the armed forces of the Yemen Arab Republic. In 1994, Hadi has helped the Northern army to suppress the attempt of the South to separate. And after his appointment as Minister of Defence for a short period, Hadi became the Vice President, and remained in that post until 2012. And despite being a vice president, he was not with actual authority under Saleh, who was alone appointing officials that he trusts in important strategic positions such as military intelligence and secret services.
Hadi was known as a quiet man who lived under the shadow of Saleh, and that he does not have a firm character in making difficult decisions. He has continued his loyalty to the British after he became the president. Thus, he has received praise from the UK Ambassador Jane Marriott, where she said, “I think that President Hadi is a good man, he is trying to do an incredible job at a very challenging time … we need to throw our weight behind the reformists and President Hadi.” [Gulf News, 21 March 2014].
He therefore plays an important role for Britain in terms of maintaining its influence in front of the fierce American campaign. He looks like he is against Ali Saleh, but in fact he is under the command of Saleh in the party and he cannot abandon this. Thus the relationship is warm between them except for the small things that happen between friends! President Hadi’s advisor for Strategic Studies, Fares Saqqaf, when the news talked about Saudi Arabia being currently mediating between Saleh and Hadi because of a disagreement between them, has stated, “The relationship between Saleh and Hadi are small specificities that Saudi Arabia does not intervene in.” (Al-Amanaa Newspaper 22/07/2014)… Hence, Hadi adheres to Saleh and he adheres to the Congress Party. And it is known that the Congress Party is the one who nominated Mansour Hadi for the presidential election that took place on 21/02/2012, and he was the only candidate for the presidency … Thus he is proceeding according to the British politics, and according to the assigned role which requires that he should not confront the influence of America with heated confrontation, but by keeping pace with it, on the way of Britain.
4. This policy required that it undertakes work apparently against Saleh and his men, and that his attitude towards America and its followers to be soft. This was because Britain had felt the American fierce onslaught on Yemen by buying agents, penetrating the army and the management of the dialogue based on the United Nations envoy… And as the Britain habit of keeping pace with America and satisfying it to curb it from continuing to undermine British influence, it has inspired Hadi to take actions to satisfy America, but not to adversely affect the British influence. So he undertook the following:
(a) He began the so-called military restructuring and the dismissals and appointments … and he alienated officers loyal to Saleh and his sons, cousins and others and appointed other leaders in their place. Britain was reassuring that any new appointments will be all or mostly loyal to it, because Ali Saleh (cleansed) the army of American agents during his thirty years in power. And so were those changes, they did not come out of the leaders loyal to Britain with the exception of some small ranks that do not actively affect anything significant. So these changes were satisfying America and do not affect in the influence of Britain, as well as showing Hadi as a president with strong appearance. This is because the picture about him is that he is a weak president and that there are forces exceeding him, so these changes show him with a strong appearance to some extent, in front of the people, that he can make changes to the faces that were affiliated to the old regime!
(b) He conducted a ministerial amendment in Basendwah government 11/06/2014 and he included two ministers loyal to America: the first is the Foreign Minister, Jamal Abdullah Sallal, the son of Abdullah Yahya Sallal, the head of the military coup which declared the Republic in 1962, and was associated with the Americans. Jamal Sallal, is American oriented and has graduated from the University of Hopkins in America and previously served as an ambassador to Iran. He was a delegate to his country in the United Nations and has abstained from voting on a Security Council resolution condemning the crimes of the regime of Bashar Assad, the American agent, against the Syrian people in August 2012. The second is the Minister of Finance, Mohamed Mansour Zammam, who was educated and also raised in American universities and showed his American orientation. He has been appointed in the period between 1996 – 1998 as a Project Manager for Education and Environment in the US Department of Agriculture in New Mexico.
(c) He showed leniency in the face of Al-Houthis, the loyal to Iran and behind it America, when they occupied Imran, so Hadi and his army were closer to neutrality. All that to appease America, and it has won on this its tribute, when US State Dept spokeswoman, Jen Psaki said “as we commend and support the efforts of the Yemeni government to stop the armed conflict and to negotiate in order to achieve peaceful reconciliation among all parties” (Saba News Agency 07/10/2014).
(d) Among the decisions of the Conference of the Dialogue, which was supervised by Jamal bin Omar (United Nations representative), was the transferring of Yemen into a federal system of six regions, namely: Azal, Saba, Jnad, Tehama, Aden, and Hadramout, giving Sana’a a special status which is not part of any area, and also Aden to have a special status. Azal, Saba, Jnad, and Tehama to be the Northern provinces, while Aden and Hadramout to be the Southern provinces … This compromise solution is to satisfy America, since Britain was of the view that South Yemen remains governed by the North to continue its influence in the whole of Yemen. And America sees the separation of South Yemen, because its influence is strong in the Southern Movement and to pave the way also for the Houthis in Saada and around … Thus the federation was a compromise that satisfies America temporarily, but it will be the field of conflict between the two countries later … And because Britain believes that most of the political milieu is in its side, it is betting on its continued influence in this union; that if it could not undermine it and restore things as they were. The American influence is found in the Southern Movement and the Houthis, while it hardly has any existence in the traditional and political milieu.
Thus Hadi has taken steps to keep pace with America and please Washington as if he was in contrast to Saleh!
(e) He was trying to cover his relations with Britain with other goals as possible. So when he wanted to visit Britain at the end of September 2012, he made it within his visits to Germany, France and America … and when he visited Washington in August 2013, he stopped at Saudi Arabia to meet with the King, who is pro-British, to submit his report about what happened between him and the Americans, before returning to his country!
5. America probably is aware of these matters, and realizes that Hadi is still loyal to the English, for his sporadic statements are not devoid of criticism to the followers of America, such as Iran, the Southern Movement and the Houthis, even if sometimes they are interspersed with flattery, such as not stating the Houthis by name. Saudi Newspaper Ash-sharq expressed this on 1/4/2014, by saying, “President Hadi … accused Iran of being still meddling inside Yemen. He asked the Iranians to review their policy towards Yemen, and he asserts that it supports the Southern Movement separatist and religious groups in the North, in reference to the Houthis”. What clarifies the issue further is that the Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz, who is a pro-British, sponsors both Saleh and Hadi, and his communications with them are incessant and are declared and not a secret. Al-Quds Al-Arabi reported on 18/07/2014, that “A source close to the Yemeni presidency revealed that Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz sent a few days ago, his special adviser to the Yemeni capital Sanaa, … He met Ali Abdullah Saleh, President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi and Major General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar during his visit to Sanaa” … Al-Quds Al-Arabi also added in the same article, “The “Charter” newspaper, the mouthpiece of the General People’s Congress party headed by Saleh, revealed earlier this week that a special envoy of the Saudi monarch visited Sanaa and during his visit he met both President Hadi and former President Ali Saleh, and it did not give more details…”
Then it was the friendly meeting on the day of Eid, which as they say “melting snow reveals what is underneath”. Media reported on the first day of Eid al-Fitr, 28/07/2014, and also reported by BBC TV that the current Yemeni President, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, and the former President, Ali Abdullah Saleh, have performed the Eid prayer together side by side!
Therefore, America probably knows that Ali Saleh and Hadi proceed from the same niche, but it considers Hadi lighter to it than Saleh. Therefore it monitors him well since he came to power, and the communications of the American ambassador with him are intensive, which is more like a monitoring for Hadi, especially when issuing decisions … This is in addition to that America had commissioned, on behalf of the United Nations, its representative Jamal Bin Omar, to manage the dialogue, the Constitution and the committees in order for the decisions to be within the acceptable limits to it…
However, this “monitoring” for Hadi does not mean that America will be able to easily adjust things to their advantage. Since Ali Saleh during his thirty years did not leave any of its effective followers in the political milieu nor in the military milieu; as he has assassinated and dismissed all the leaders that are not loyal to Britain, and in particular that the Congress Party headed by Saleh, who Britain was behind him for many years, still works…. But America considered that the exclusion of Ali Saleh is a big step in the way of introducing its influence in a bigger manner in Yemen, because it believes that dealing with Hadi is much easier to it than dealing with Ali Saleh. And it expects that its three pillars to have stronger and more effect during the era of Hadi; and these pillars are: work through Iran in supporting the Houthis, the support of the Southern Movement, and the military intervention under the pretext of the fight against al-Qaida. But what makes this prediction has no guaranteed results in what it wants is that Britain, Ali Saleh and the Congress party are the pillars as well, that surrounds Hadi and directing him.
In summary, based on the above, Hadi is still loyal to the English, but it works in accordance with the role assigned to him from Britain, that he does not confront American interests with heat, but paces with it without weakening the British influence in Yemen.
Second: The attacks on the Ministry of Defence.
The two most prominent of these attacks:
The first that occurred on 14/08/2012, where it was reported that elements of the Republican Guard, attacked the headquarters of the Ministry Defence and accused Ali Abdullah Saleh and his son Ahmed, who commands the Republican Guard, of their connection with the attack. On that day, the Yemeni President, Hadi, was in Saudi Arabia to attend the summit of the Organization of the Islamic Conference. News agencies reported that the Republican Guard forces opposed President Hadi’s recent resolutions on the reallocation of army brigades. Sources close to the protesters, confirmed that they were demanding financial benefits they had been promised by the Finance Committee in return for ending a similar protest last week. Local media quoted that protesting soldiers were surprised by the decision of the Ministry of Defence its confiscation of their salaries on the pretext that they are defectors, and the Ministry of Defence has promised to pay their salaries. It is likely that this process was not a coup attempt to overthrow the existing regime, as rumoured then, but a production process to make the dismissal of some of the officers of the Republican Guard, as well as the new appointments, to make them look like serious changes in front of America. This is probably because the Republican Guard is one of the strongest military formations in Yemen, if not the strongest, and the influence of Ali Saleh and his son is strong, and it can execute the coup easily if it wanted, but it did not do. Rather, its leader Ahmed Saleh when he was dismissed from his command and appointed an ambassador he did not rebel nor direct a military action… So, as we already stated, on whom would Saleh and his son capsize? Since Saleh and Hadi are of the same mud! Therefore the preponderant view is that the attempt was a directed process to show that the changes were serious, and has mingled with the soldiers’ salaries to increase its heat…
The second occurred on 05/12/2013 where the Headquarters of the Ministry of Defence was attacked … and it was announced that the Yemeni President held a meeting at this headquarters an hour after the attack, so more likely that he was present, but elsewhere in the ministry compound. President Hadi’s press secretary, Yahya Al-Arasi, had stated in an interview with the American Radio Sawa on 07/12/2013, that, “The President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi was targeted in the twin attack on the compound of the Ministry of Defence”. Al-Qaida was accused of carrying out the attack, where remarks were published on behalf of the organization on Internet sites claiming responsibility for the attack. The Middle East newspaper quoted, on 07/12/2013, Yemeni sources saying that they have “cast doubts on the statements of al-Qaeda and it is only an attempt to disguise”. The newspaper quoted some of what was stated in the preliminary report of the Inquiry Committee that “Most of the materials used in the bombing match what has been seized in the Iranian arms ships which attempted to reach the coast of Yemen during the past few months, which have been seized on the Yemeni coast”. Britain, through the Guardian newspaper, has revealed, on 22/11/2013 i.e. before the incident, the relationship of Bandar bin Sultan, who was then the Chief of Saudi intelligence, with the Houthi group; where Saleh Habra, who is one of the leaders of this group and heads its political council, visited Saudi Arabia secretly through London and met with Bandar bin Sultan, and that he carried with him a huge amount of money after the meeting. It was quoted from a Saudi source saying that the Houthis are getting financial and military support from Saudi Arabia and are receiving monthly payments from Riyadh. Bandar bin Sultan is known for his loyalty for America and his implementation of its plans. So it appears that this process was a threatening letter to President Hadi that if he follows Saleh’s path then the access to his neck is easy, and America has carried out this threat by its agent Bender and the Houthis who are directed by the American agents in Iran. It is worth mentioning that the pro-British Saudi King Abdullah alienated Bandar bin Sultan, from the intelligence presidency where the King is concentrating the British agents in many important positions, and is leading the work for the benefit of the British in Yemen and other countries in the region.
Thirdly: In conclusion, how long will Muslim countries remain a field for conflict for the Kaffir colonial states? How long will the conflict continue between Britain and America for influence in Yemen? How long will they conflict each other using local and regional items from us: Saudi Arabia, the tribes, Saleh’s party then Hadi, on one side, and Iran and the Houthis and the Southern Movement from the other side? How long will the people of Iman (faith) and wisdom be watching the ongoing conflict as if the country is not their country? Would they not move truly and rise up honestly? Would they not work with the workers to establish the state of Islam, the rightly guided Khilafah, and then the truth is established and the falsehood abolished, and then those colonial Kaffir countries retreat to their own backyard that remained for them then a backyard…? For how long? For how long? Rival
6th Shawwal 1435 AH
2/8/2014 CE