Yemen’s cabinet goes back to Aden

Internationally recognised government defies Houthi rebels and returns to work in temporary capital in southern port city.

Yemeni Vice-President and Prime Minister, Khalid Bahah, arrives back in Aden on Tuesday 26, January. (Wam)

ADEN // Yemen’s prime minister Khalid Bahah returned to Aden on Monday to resume the work of the internationally-recognised government from the temporary capital.

Mr Bahah plans to be permanently based in Aden with his cabinet ministers, including the minister of finance, interior minister, and the minister of oil, the spokesperson of the government Rageh Badi told The National.

“Most of the ministers are in Aden, and some others will stay in Saudi Arabia to manage the political work from there. In addition there are some ministers in Hadramout, Marib and Socotra,” Mr Badi said referring to other key locations in Yemen.

This is the fourth time that Mr Bahah has returned to Aden since Yemen descended into civil war when Iranian-backed Houthi forces seized the capital Sanaa and advanced south toward the main southern port city, forcing the government of president Abdrabu Mansur Hadi to flee to Saudi Arabia.

A coalition of mainly Arab states led by Riyadh is fighting the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen to restore the Mr Hadi’s government to power.

His plans to return permanently to Aden on October 6 last year were disrupted when ISIL fighters attacked the Al Qasr hotel where he and other government officials were staying, forcing the government to return to Riyadh.

This time, Mr Bahah and his ministers have returned to the Republican Palace in Aden, following its refurbishment by the UAE.

The government’s return comes amid a wave of assassinations in Aden. The governor of Aden Gaafar Mohammed Saad was killed by an ISIL-claimed suicide attack on December 6, while a judge and a police colonel were assassinated in separate incidents in January.

“The security challenge is the main challenge but there is a plan to overcome it, and the government will resume the security to Aden as before,” said Mr Badi.

The scale of that challenge was highlighted when Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula on Monday overran Al Hawta district in Lahj, the province surrounding Aden, after storming the public institutions there.

The militants have also taken over Abyan province’s Zinjibar district last month, which is about 50 kilometres east of Aden.

Meanwhile, the fighting against the Houthis, who are backed by military units loyal to the former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, has become bogged down in the besieged city of Taiz, which lies between Aden and Sanaa.

On Monday, Yemen’s foreign minister said the Houthis were still holding thousands of Yemenis captive, including defence minister Gen Mahmoud Sobeihi, and president Abdrabu Mansur Hadi’s brother, Nasser Mansur Hadi.

Speaking on the sidelines of the Arab League foreign ministers’ meeting in Abu Dhabi, Abdel Malak Al Mekhlafi said: “They [Houthis] have refused to disclose the fate of the detainees, including these prominent detainees. And as I said there are thousands of detainees.”

He said detainees included activists and journalists, and added that his government was not holding any political prisoners.

Mr Al Mekhlafi also accused the Houthis and Mr Saleh of being behind the collapse of the latest ceasefire agreed last month.

“They breached the ceasefire so it did not last ... We tried to extend the ceasefire but that did not last,” he said.

However, the Yemeni government was still ready for a political solution in Yemen and was willing to extend its hand to the Houthis and the Saleh loyalists for a new round of peace talks provided the rebels lay down their weapons.

Yemen’s government and its allies from the Saudi-led coalition blame Iran for arming the Houthis.

At a meeting in Abu Dhabi on Monday, the foreign ministers of the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt met to discuss a unified response from the Arab League to what they view as Iranian meddling in the internal affairs of Arab countries.

Asked if the member states were planning any security or economic measures against Iran, Egyptian foreign minister Sameh Shoukry said the Arab League had entrusted the four countries to come up with “a common approach to face the challenges resulting from the pressures being exerted by Iran in Arab affairs”.

He said “the core countries have a clear vision” and will reach a position that all 22 Arab countries will adopt collectively when the consultation wraps up in two weeks.