Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi today accused the Shi’ite Houthi rebels of being part of a conspiracy of “internal and foreign forces” who are threatening to drag the country into civil war.
Supporters of the Houthi movement had been protesting in the capital for months, and over the past week Houthi rebel fighters have taken over the capital city, consolidating their power and pushing for a new, inclusive government.
Hadi, who was installed at the end of the last revolution as the pro-US “candidate” in a one-man vote, is outraged by the push for a new government, claiming the group is aiming to “overthrow the Yemeni model.”
Hadi supporters are claiming that the previous dictator, Ali Abdullah Saleh, is behind the sudden takeover on the grounds that Saleh, like the Houthis, is a Shi’ite. Yet this claim doesn’t hold water since Saleh spent years fighting extremely bloody wars against the Houthis, and bankrolling Sunni Islamist factions to take over territory near the Houthi homeland along the Saudi border.
Our press has reports that the Shi’ite Houthi rebels cannot be democratic or legitimate unless they incorporate their opponents in a unity government to represent everyone.
Where was that opinion when we were backing the now-defeated government against the Houthi rebels? THEN there was no need for unity government or representing all interests.
The truth is our commentators just want OUR side to run things, or at least be part of running things. Everyone else can go hang, and preferrably they do.
Well, after all the now-defeated government did, the Houthi would be best advised to treat it as it treated them.
The dictator and all politicians represent the educated upper half of society who hoard all the wealth, rebels want nothing more then a little wealth to trickle down, but greed must prevail.
Before greed prevails, on the commonly accepted scale of human needs — security and safety come first. Houthis would not have been successful if two other factors are not present: an apsolute disaffection of Sunni Yemenis. Unlike other Sunni places, here tribal structure still remains, and Saudi Arabia and US — in spite of trying hard to introduce " Al-Qaeda" in the form of AQAP — did not succeed.
So, Houthis have support from the Sunni public in large cities, majority Sunni tribal leaders and support from South Secessionists. If this consolidates, Yemen will open up for Chinese investments, especially in ports like Aden, Hodeida, Mukalla. Saudi most wealthy elite is from the South — once upon a time known as Hadzramauth, or in Bible as Hazermaweth, or later as the land of the Sinbad the Sailor. They have for years invested in their historic homeland; Sultan of Brunei hails from there as well. This may be a big problem for US– as the straits, Baab Al-Mandeb, are controlled by the South. A dream situation for Chinese "Maritime Silk Road".
President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi is a vassal state stooge whose bad deeds to his people is coming back to him in spades. This is what happens Hadi when you kill your own people for a foreign power.