Senior official of Yemen government-in-exile at work in Aden

Mohammed Ali Marem may be the only senior official of the internationally-recognized government of President Mansour Hadi who is working inside Yemen. Most officials are located in the safety of Ryadh, Saudi Arabia.

+ Add Image

Marem is chief of staff for the office of President Mansour Hadi. He has the job of paving the way for the return of the government in exile. Hadi was forced into exile when Houthi rebels marched south from their bases in the north to take the capital, Sanaa, after negotiations to form a government brokered by the UN broke down. Hadi resigned and was under virtual house arrest after the Houthis took control. However, he escaped to Aden, recanted his resignation, and tried to set up a government there, only to be driven into exile as ŧhe Houthis attacked Aden. Marem accompanied Hadi when he escaped to Aden. However, when Hadi escaped Aden to exile in Ryadh this March, Marem stayed behind in hiding during the Houthi siege of the city.

As can be seen in the photos at this site, much of Aden is in ruins. Marem said:“President Hadi has hoped to return to Aden since the beginning of August, ... however it is difficult to return to war-torn city, as there is not even an office for the president to work from and there is not a house for him. However, I hope that the reconstruction of the presidential palaces will be finished as soon as possible, and the president will return in the coming days".The Houthis were driven from the city in July.

The previous chief of staff, Ahmed bin Mubarak, was jailed by the Houthis in Sanaa but was released on the promise he leave Yemen. Hadi made him ambassador to the US.

Marem holds a Ph.D. in finance and banking from a Malaysian university. He was a finance lecturer at Aden University. He headed the National Dialogue Conference that was deigned to gather stakeholders to plan for a democratic future for Yemen. The Houthis left the conference after two of their delegates were assassinated. Subsequent to the conference Hadi drafted a plan that would divide Yemen into six federal areas. Not only did the Houthis reject this but so did the Southern Movement some of whom did not even attend the dialogue. Now the Southern Movement militias have helped drive the Houthis from Aden and other parts of the south. They are a separatist group who will demand autonomy and perhaps independence for southern Yemen. They often clashed with the Hadi government when he was in power.

UAE troops played a key role in the recapture of Aden it would appear. Recently they also rescued a UK hostage from Al Qaeda. Seven UAE soldiers have been killed.

Maren praised the UAE forces:“The Emirates led the battle in Aden from the first step to the last and they made Aden return to its normal conditions. The Emirates is the most effective country in the field, especially fighting shoulder to shoulder with the resistance on the battlefields.”He also claims they played a vital role in reopening the port and the airport. The UAE Red Crescent is also active in distributing aid within the city.

Marem said that eight ministers were expected in Aden soon. However, Marem claimed that the reconstruction of buildings was the only obstacle that faced the return of the cabinet to the city. Perhaps Marem is not aware that Al Qaeda in the Arab Peninsula(AQAP) has control of part of Aden and that they are expert at disruptive terror attacks. They have made many attacks against the Houthis but also carried out such attacks against the Hadi government when he was in power.

Yemen peace talks to take place in Geneva on June 14

The Prime Minister of the government in exile of president Mansour Hadi said that the upcoming peace talks slated for June 14 in Geneva will be aimed at "restoring power" to the Hadi government.

+ Add Image

The Prime Minister, Khaled Bahah, speaking in exile in Ryadh, the Saudi capital, said the talks would be used to pressure Shiite rebels to withdraw from the capital and other cities they have captured. A spokesperson for the Houthis, Mohammed Abdel-Salem dismissed Bahah's remarks, claiming the Hadi government was illegitimate and there are no preconditions associated with the talks. Initially the government in exile refused to even attend the talks unless the Houthis implemented the UN Security Council resolution calling for the withdrawal of the Houthi forces from occupied cities among other things. No doubt under pressure from its supporters, the U.S., Saudi Arabia, and other members of the Gulf Cooperation Council, officials of the government now say they will attend the talks but only to discuss implementation of the resolution.

Bahah was adamant in his position saying:Going to Geneva is meant to consult on the mechanism of ... the return of the state. There will be no negotiations."So why would anyone hold peace talks between powers in conflict if there is to be no negotiation? President in exile Mansour Hadi took precisely the same line and ruled out any negotiations with the Houthis. Hadi is in no position to make such demands. The Houthi rebels have long been in control of much of Yemen, seizing the capital Sanaa last fall and since extending control south right to Aden, where a battle for control of the city is ongoing. Hadi had tried to negotiate through the UN a government acceptable to the Houthis. When he failed, he resigned and was under virtual house arrest in Sanaa. He escaped to Aden where he declared he was still president and tried to set up a government there. He was driven out and sought refuge and support in Saudi Arabia. Hadi is in large part a creation of the U.S. and Gulf Cooperation Council as part of a deal that saw former president Ali Saleh give up power to Hadi, who was then vice-president. It is not surprising that he was able to enlist those same countries to carry out bombing attacks on the Houthis on his behalf and to pass a UN resolution that in effect asks the Houthis to surrender. The UN also imposed sanctions on two Houthi leaders as well as former president Saleh whose support has been instrumental in helping the Houthi advance. Repeating the same line as his prime minister, Hadi told Al Arabiya TV: "There will be no negotiations, It will be just a discussion about how to implement UN Security Council Resolution 2216. We will have a consultation."He said there would be no talk of reconciliation with the rebels.

The U.S. has welcomed the talks and repeated the UN refrain that parties should attend the talks without preconditions. However, what the U.S. says should happen has parts that are as unrealistic as the position of the Hadi government and if followed are bound to result in a useless conference except as a platform to condemn the rebels. A US statement says:We urge Yemenis participating in the talks to work towards a rapid resumption of the Yemeni political transition process in line with the GCC Initiative, National Dialogue Conference outcomes, and related UN Security Council resolutions. We also call upon those participating to prioritize reaching an agreement to end the fighting and begin the withdrawal of forces from key Yemeni cities.The National Dialogue is dead as a door nail. Items passed that the important powers fashioning Yemen's future did not like were not implemented. The dialogue passed a motion against drone strikes. Even the legislature followed suit. But the man beholden to the outside powers, President Hadi, did not turn the motion into law.

As part of the Dialogue, Hadi was left to draw up plans for a federal Yemen. He divided the country into six divisions a position rejected by not only the Houthis, who withdrew from the Dialogue after two of their representatives were assassinated, but was also rejected by the Southern Movement separatists. It is this group fighting the Houthis in Aden and other southern areas who are often characterized as loyal to Hadi. They will demand at the very least autonomy for the south in order to go along with any political settlement. It is the international outside supporters of Hadi who have the real power, without them Hadi would be completely helpless. Unless those powers are willing to provide the Houthis with a guarantee of a government that they will find acceptable there will be no lasting peace deal. However, even agreement on a cease fire and humanitarian relief with further negotiations would be positive.

Yemeni Southern Movement militia capture town from Houthi rebels

The Popular Resistance militia group, associated with a Southern Yemen secessionist movement, have finally taken control of the small city of Dalea from Houthi rebels after battling for months.

+ Add Image

The militia finally pushed into the center of the city of about 90,000, capturing the 33rd Armoured Brigade base and killing seven Houthi rebels in the process. Another report, indicates that only some areas of the city including Bardan ad Akhaszan have been retaken. Significantly, in the areas retaken the flag of Southern Yemen is being raised, not the Yemen flag. Some in the Saudi coalition are claiming credit for the capture of the city as part of the Saudi-led war effort, since the city and surrounding area has been subject to constant bombing. Much of Dalea has been destroyed by bombing.

While the Southern Secessionists may be temporary allies with the Saudi-led coalition, they are enemies of Hadi and certainly would not welcome him back to Yemen unless he should agree to grant independence to the south. When the Hadi-government controlled the city last year their soldiers came under attack.

The secessionist movement and Al Qaeda in the Arab Peninsula( AQAP) as well are taking advantage of the Saudi battle against the Houthis to further their own aims and seize territory. In Aden, much of the battle against the Houthis is being waged by defense and militia groups who support the separatist movement. This feature of the conflict appears to be studiously ignored by many analysts. These people hate the Houthis but they hate Hadi too.

In other Yemen news, peace talks that were to be held in Geneva are postponed. President in exile, Hadi, had demanded that the Houthis give back some of the territory they had seized as a condition of attending the talks.

Yemen: Four separatist protesters in south shot dead

  Yesterday (July 7) in the southern port city of Aden Yemeni security forces shot and killed 4 men participating in a separatist march. A total of 18 were wounded. The government claims that the protesters had attacked security forces.
  The protesters had been trying to gain access to a public square in Aden. The protest march was held to commemorate a day in 1994 when government forces from the north had invaded Aden at the end of a civil war. Aden was the capital of the independent country of South Yemen until 1990.
   There were protests in other southern cities as well and a leader of the Southern Movement Saleh Yahya was arrested. Even though the former president stepped down in February in a deal brokered by the GCC and supported by the U.S. divisions in the country remain. However, much of the territory seized by militants has now been retaken but at considerable cost to both sides and displacement of citizens. The U.S. was involved both in aerial attacks and special forces used as advisers on the ground. For more see this article.

. .

Yemen; Army represses separatists in Aden

In the news emphasis is upon the retaking of territory especially in Abyan province from Islamic militants. However, another military operation is going on against separatists in Aden.
Aden was at one time the capital of a separate secular state supported by the former Soviet Union. Many southerners feel that the central government does little for them and want to be independent again.
After a public protest calling for succession the area of Mansoura has been continually harassed by the military. In mid June protests were crushed now people are so afraid of being shot if they go out on the streets that they stay in their homes for the most part.
Though secessionists have held mostly peaceful protests they are attacked by authorities almost as vigorously and violently as Islamic militants. Yemen also faces northern Shiite separatists the Houti in the far north. For more see this article.

Yemen: Two separatist protesters killed by security forces in Aden

The two who were killed were taking part in a separatist protest in the southern port city of Aden. The south of Yemen was a separate country until 1990 and Aden has long been a center of separatist activists.

An activist from the Southern Movement separatist group said:"Security forces fired live rounds on protesters, killing two and wounding five," An official at an Aden hospital confirmed the toll.

Protesters were demanding that a week long crackdown by security forces on a protest camp be ended. Nine people had already been killed during that operation according to an activist.

The government reported that seven security personnel have been injured in clashes with protesters. For more see this article.