UAE Not Withdrawing From Yemen, FM Reiterates

United Arab Emirates officials have announced plans to remove some troops from Yemen, but not all of them. Despite having repeatedly clarified that point, however, the UAE also keeps presenting the current time as start of a transition in Yemen, or a shift away from the military operation.

Having dangled the prospect of change once again, UAE FM Anwar Gargash then felt a need on Monday to reiterate, again, that the UAE is not leaving Yemen, and that neither would the rest of the coalition of invading forces.

Even his comments were couched as part of a move to “operate differently” in Yemen, even if the broad undercurrent of all comments are that the status quo of endless invasion of Yemen is fully intact.

In fact, the decision to draw down from Yemen at all for the UAE was broadly an attempt to emphasize their large militia forces in the war instead of committing their military to it.