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HomeNEWSWORLD NEWSNews Analysis: Houthi-Saleh alliance falls apart amid growing tensions

News Analysis: Houthi-Saleh alliance falls apart amid growing tensions

SANAA, (Xinhua) Sept. 2, 2017  — The Houthi rebels are tightening its grip on Yemen’s capital Sanaa and excluding their ally, General People’s Congress (GPC) party of former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, from power amid growing tensions between the two sides, local security officials and analysts said.
The developments followed sporadic deadly clashes and a media war between them which started after the GPC decided to mark its founding anniversary a week ago.
Each side is accusing the other of misuse of public funds and corruption, and the differences have already reached a dangerous point.
This week, Houthis killed a senior military commander close to Saleh, attacked Saleh’s lawyer and have been accusing key aides of Saleh of being a fifth column.
Moreover, they have fired dozens of GPC military and non-military officials and are planning to announce a state of emergency in Sanaa, shut down social media platforms and other measures.
The Iran-backed Houthis and the GPC allied in September 2014, when they ousted the UN-backed government and later sparked a civil war and a Saudi-led bombing campaign.
Their alliance has since been running the capital Sanaa as well as northern, central, southwestern and western regions, and fighting the forces of the legitimate government and the Saudi-led coalition, which has been supporting the legitimate government since March 2015 by targeting Houthi-Saleh forces and weapons depots.
The Houthi-Saleh earliest alliance started in 2011 when key political parties allied in a year-long uprising against the regime of Saleh. Saleh resorted to the Houthis to resist his biggest rivals, especially the Islah Party, or Yemen’s Muslim brotherhood, which was powerful at all public and military institutions and large militias.
When the Houthis expanded their presence to Sanaa in 2014, Saleh had no option but to ally with them because other groups were all planning to defeat him.
In some terms, the Houthi-Saleh alliance was based on regionalism, as both are from the north.



The U.S. and Saudi feared the Islah Party would seize power because it was the second largest party after the GPC.
Since the first day of the Houthi-Saleh alliance, it was expected the old enemies Houthis and the GPC would fight each other in the end.
Saleh fought six wars against the Houthi group during his presidency from 2002 to 2009. His troops killed the brother of Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi in these wars backed by Saudi Arabia.
Faris Al-Beel, a political analyst and college professor, said all signs indicate the Houthi-Saleh alliance has already come to its end.
“What is happening in Sanaa at the moment is a power struggle between different ideologies. While the Houthis aim to seize power based on historic and religious references that restrict power to their family, Saleh’s ideology is based on taking revenge and restoring power mostly with political tactics,” Al-Beel said.
“They can’t be partners with such completely different ideologies. They allied to serve their interests under specific circumstances, but over time it was obvious that each side has its own plans to eliminate the other and end their fragile partnership,” the analyst explained.
The deepening crises in Yemen are also contributing to the collapse of the alliance. Yemen is suffering the largest humanitarian crisis and cholera epidemic, and the UN says the two crises and the political stalemate are all man-made.
Meanwhile, reliable military sources told Xinhua the Houthis have plans to target sons and senior commanders of Saleh as they are mobilizing rallies by what they call facing escalation with escalation, referring to GPC’s anniversary on Aug. 24.
Yaseen Al-Tamimi, a political writer and analyst, also said the situation in Sanaa is very tense.
“Conflict between the two sides has already begun. All hands are on the trigger and they will not stop because of their tribal, social and ideological conditions,” Al-Tamimi said.
Houthis have probably felt their ally has started its plans to eliminate them with support from the Saudi-led coalition, Al-Tamimi added.
“I think the Houthis expect the coalition to reactivate the House of Representatives in order to boost the government’s legitimacy. If that happens, Saleh must play a role in ending the Houthi militia’s rule because his party has the majority in the House,” he said.
A Saleh’s aid said the U.S. and the United Arab Emirates met with GPC officials in Cairo a few months ago in a bid to reach a deal under which the GPC was supposed to lead a new transitional government.
“But the deal was not finished,” the aide said without giving more details.
Al-Beel said the Saudi-led coalition recently sent clear messages encouraging Saleh to confront the Houthis who are obstructing the peace process.
“Amid its failure to achieve a military victory, the ongoing battles and political stalemate, it seems the coalition has started to think of playing the card of balance of power,” Al-Beel said.
“Saleh is the lesser evil. The coalition will not accept Islamists to be its partners,” he noted.



 

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