Exiled Yemeni President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi yesterday stepped aside and transferred his powers to a presidential council, as international and regional efforts to end the country’s long-running civil war gained momentum with a two-month truce.
Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, major players in the conflict, appear to have played a role in Hadi’s decision, quickly welcoming it with a pledge of US$3 billion in aid.
The head of the new council has close ties to Riyadh.
Photo: AFP
Whether the switch would expedite an end to the grinding war remains to be seen, as UN-
sponsored negotiations have been at an impasse and fighting, airstrikes and missile attacks continued until late last month.
The Houthis did not immediately comment on Hadi’s announcement.
Photo: AFP / SPA
Peter Salisbury, a Yemen expert at the International Crisis Group, described the power transfer as “A Big Deal.”
The development is the “most consequential shift in the inner workings of the anti-Houthi bloc since war began,” he wrote on Twitter.
Hadi said the newly established council would run the internationally recognized government and lead negotiations with the Iranian-backed Houthis, according to a statement aired on state-run media.
The move is meant to unify the anti-Houthi camp after years of infighting and disputes, and was almost certainly orchestrated in Riyadh, where Yemeni factions were meeting over the past week to discuss efforts to end the war.
“With this declaration a Presidential Leadership Council shall be established to complete the implementation of the tasks of the transitional period. I irreversibly delegate to the Presidential Leadership Council my full powers,” Hadi said on Yemen’s state-run TV.
Hadi also sacked Yemeni Vice President Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, a powerful military figure, and delegated al-Ahmar’s powers to the presidential council.
The presidential council is chaired by Rashad al-Alimi, an adviser to Hadi and former minister of the interior with the government of former Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh.
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