We are worried the south will become a theatre for bloodshed and the battleground for the Gulf’s and for
everyone else’s interests
Empowering the STC may have been part of safeguarding against a possible Islamist power-grab in the
vacuum left by the ouster of the Houthis in the south.
But for Elisabeth Kendall, a Yemen expert at Pembroke College Oxford University who travels frequently
to the south, the training of separatist groups had “unleashed a force” the UAE may not be able to control.
“The cards are in the Emiratis’ court. They are going to have to pull their own creation back from the desire
for independence if we are going to have stability in this country,” she says.
Over the last year in different interviews with The Independent inside and outside of Yemen, senior Emirati
commanders have mentioned their concerns about the Brotherhood in Yemen
They also say the training of local forces was essential to the wider counter-insurgency battle against groups
like al-Qaeda. They claim the presence of well-trained local forces would also eventually allow the UAE to
go home.
It is no secret that the UAE is no fan of Hadi and wishes him gone. That will likely have caused some
friction with Riyadh, as has deciding on what to do with the south of the country.
Hadi’s administration meanwhile has publicly accused the UAE of backing a separatist “coup”.
A tribesman in south Yemen who is against the
division of the country (Bel Trew)But Emirati officials vehemently rejected that accusation and reports of problems between them and
Riyadh.
“There is no daylight between the UAE and Saudi Arabia when it comes to Yemen,” a senior UAE official
tells The Independent on the condition of anonymity.
A source within the coalition adds: “The UAE and Saudi Arabia are completely aligned both on the ground
and in our continued calls on all parties involved to come together to discuss a political settlement. The
coalition is doing everything possible to provide Yemen with the ability to return to normality.”
To add to the confusion are other factions within Yemen.
In Muscat, Oman, there is an entirely different set of southern separatists who want an independent south
Yemen but are against the STC because of its alleged Emirati connections.