Saudi Arabia has issued a new statement on the UAE-backed separatists in South Yemen, calling the movement a “threat to the Kingdom” and threatening to deal with it decisively.
The statement centered on the idea that the separatists should unilaterally hand over all government buildings and military bases in the capital city of Aden. This almost certainly isn’t going to happen, after a recent bid to give back some government buildings led to a pitched battle in Aden over the entire city, which the separatists won with UAE support.
The fighting has roughly split the Saudi coalition in half, with about 10,000 troops on the Saudi and government side, and another 10,000 troops on the UAE and separatist side.
While the Saudis previously suggested they’d like to see talks to resolve the situation and get everyone back on the same page, the separatists and government seem to both reject this idea and are vilifying one another with a tone that suggests they both consider this a new war.
The Saudis may just find the separatists willing to give up Aden. That city has never really been a part of the other zones run by the separatists, and Aden’s own internal rebels for many years were non-Muslim communists.