Last week’s battle between Ansar Allah – the military wing of the Shiite Houthi movement – and Yemeni troops near the presidential palace in Sanaa was small, compared to some of the bitter wars it has waged against the state. But it marked a turning point in Yemen’s history, noted an editorial in the London-based Al Quds Al Arabi.
The Houthi rebels surrounded the palace of president Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, while the prime minister was there too. It was a means of forcing them to allow the Houthis to seize what remains of the country’s key institutions, the paper said.
The Houthis want Mr Hadi to authorise the use of Yemen’s troops to raid the oil-rich Marib province. He had previously rejected this demand and the refusal partly triggered the recent attack.
The Yemeni government’s call for a peace agreement between all parties fell flat, proof that the Yemeni presidency has buckled under the pressure of the Houthis, the paper said.
The rebels used the divide within Yemen’s “deep state” to their advantage. A large section of it is loyal to the former president, Ali Abdullah Saleh. The Houthis also capitalised on the favourable regional environment, which includes direct support from Iran, weak backing for Mr Hadi and his government from the Arab states and the priority accorded to fighting the threat of Al Qaeda.
But the greater their control, the higher the risk that the Houthis will run into trouble. Their temporary alliance with Mr Saleh is prone to falling apart due to old feuds. It’s not possible for them to fully take over all the major institutions, particularly the army and the police. This is because their unity could splinter along tribal and political lines if tested too far.
In an opinion article in theJordan-based newspaper Al Addustour, Maher Abu Tair wrote that Yemen’s fall to the Houthis should not serve as an occasion to hurl insults at the rebels. Instead, it should be taken as an opportunity to analyse the roots of the country’s current situation. Yemen’s situation is not surprising, he wrote, considering that it has long been left to deal with poverty, ignorance and conflict.
When a country means just the president, it becomes impossible to defend it, because no one is ready to die for a president. And nations that do not provide citizens with bread and butter and security are usually abandoned at a time of crisis, he wrote.
Yemen’s collapse is symptomatic of a fragile region. Now, a once-unified Yemen is divided between the Houthis, Al Qaeda, the Muslim Brotherhood and rival tribes, he added.
Mohamed Krichen observed in Al Quds Al Arabi that it was president Hadi’s concessions to the Houthis that whetted Ansar Allah’s appetite. As one Yemeni analyst put it, the president “should have known that when Saada fell, so would Sanaa and so too the presidency”.
As it stands, Yemen seems closer to the “Libyan scenario” than to a situation where a conciliatory formula can be worked out. This is the case even though all the relevant parties are exhausted. He added that there is the additional problem of Yemenis who believe that disagreements can only be solved by force.
Krichen said that despite the Houthis going back on their deal with the government, their spokesmen are good at spinning the story and posing as victims.
That is why they now constantly refer to the “September 21 revolution”, when they took over Sanaa. And that is why they are intoning the mantra of fighting corruption. They have joined hands with the original forces of corruption in the country, including Mr Saleh, whom they now call “the leader” and still they talk about fighting corruption.
Writing in the Abu Dhabi-based daily Al Ittihad, Mohamed Al Hammadi, its editor, commented that the Houthis’ takeover can only be described as a blatant armed coup against president Hadi’s legitimate government.
A coup was on the Houthis’ mind from the moment they started fighting against the government. They were after total power without partnership.
The Arab world and the international community is silent. But even if they react, it is going to be too late, he said. It will be a fait accompli backed by Iran, which continues to meddle in the affairs of the region, Al Hammadi noted.
* Translated by Abdelhafid Ezzouitni
aezzouitni @thenational.ae
