Yemen’s exiled president has resigned, dismissed his deputy and handed over power to a presidential council with the aim of launching serious negotiations to end the devastated country’s seven-year conflict.
Outgoing president Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi signalled the Saudi-led campaign to crush the Houthi rebellion has failed by sacking vice-president Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, a controversial army commander who was appointed in 2016 to direct a ground offensive that has reached a stalemate.
Their departure could strengthen the two-month ceasefire agreed at the beginning of this month by the Saudi-backed government and rebel Houthis, the first truce since 2016, and renew peacemaking efforts that have stalled over the past two years.
Riyadh announced $3 billion (€27.5 billion) in financial aid and urged the council to "start negotiations with the Houthis under United Nations auspices for a final and comprehensive solution".
Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman, de facto ruler of the kingdom, has endorsed the council by meeting with its chief and his deputies, according to Saudi state television.
The ongoing ceasefire has provided the crown prince with a potentially face-saving exit from this $100-billion-plus conflict. His partner in the war, Emirati crown prince Mohammed bin Zayed, withdrew his troops in 2019 and focused on recruiting, training and arming Yemeni militias.
Mr Hadi was driven into exile in Saudi Arabia by northern Houthi tribesmen, who seized the capital Sana'a in 2014 after he tried to deny them fair representation in government and a share of Yemen's oil revenues.
He became president of a two-year transitional regime in 2012 following the Arab Spring removal of Yemen's president of 22 years, Ali Abdullah Saleh. Mr Hadi, a field marshal who had served as vice-president, was expected to appoint a unity government and hold presidential elections within 90 days. This did not happen.
Houthis
The Houthis captured vast swathes of Yemeni territory, prompting the western-supported and armed Saudis and the Emiratis to intervene. In response, Iran provided the Houthis with political backing and limited arms supplies.
Mr Hadi’s term in office was renewed until 2015 but he remained for another seven, based in Riyadh rather than the loyalist southern port of Aden where his administration operates. The Houthis blame his government for corruption and condemn his alliance with the Saudi-led “aggression”.
The presidential council inherits the south and east. The Houthis control the north, where 80 per cent of Yemenis reside, Sana’a, and the Red Sea port of Hodeidah, which, before the war, handled 70 per cent of Yemen’s imports.
The council is chaired by Saudi-appointee Rashad al-Alimi, who has ties to the Sunni fundamentalist Islah party, and has seven deputy chairmen, including the Emirati-backed head of the separatist Southern Transitional Council, Aidarous al-Zubaidi, and other stakeholders who have often been at odds with and fought each other, undermining the effectiveness of the anti-Houthi camp.
While warning of complications created by the establishment of the council, International Crisis Group analyst Peter Salisbury tweeted this could be "the most consequential shift in the inner workings of the anti-Houthi bloc since the war began".
At least 377,000 Yemenis have died in the war, four million out of 30 million have been driven from their homes, and the majority has plunged into poverty.
