Unrest Continues in Yemen, UAE Rejects Academic

Photo Credit: Reuters

On Monday, Yemen’s President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi continued his surprise visit to southern Yemen by meeting with officials in Aden and advocating for using the upcoming national dialogue to solve the country’s issues. Hadi arrived on Saturday amid Hirak (Southern Movement) protests, which intensified after security forces killed several protesters on Thursday. Clashes between security forces and southern separatists continued in Aden and Mukalla through Monday, with activists blocking roads and attacking Islah Islamic Party facilities. Both sides suffered casualties.

Writing for Financial Times, Michael Peel cautions that “it would be disastrous if outside complacency, inattention and aggression combined to destroy the possibilities that still remain” in Yemen. For Foreign Policy, Tik Root argues that Yemen’s General People’s Congress (GPC) is at a crossroads, and will falter if it does not undergo “‘a restructuring to deal with the changes that have happened.’” Also for Foreign Policy, Holger Albrecht observes that Hadi’s restructuring efforts “will heavily depend on the relations with his current allies: his own people in the GPC, the Ali Mohsen camp, and the Islah Party.” Vivian Salama of the The Daily Beast finds that former president Ali Abdullah Saleh has proven to be “unsackable.”

Elsewhere in the Gulf, Qatari poet Muhammad Ibn al-Dheeb al-Ajami‘s life sentence for “criticizing the emir and attempting to incite revolt” was reduced to 15 years on appeal. He planned to appeal to the supreme court. Jordan revealed that it had heard nothing from Saudi Arabia about a citizen arrested there 50 days ago, despite repeated inquiries. The UAE confirmed that it denied entry to Dr. Kristian Coates Ulrichsen on Friday because “at this extremely sensitive juncture in Bahrain’s national dialogue it would be unhelpful to allow non-constructive views…from within another GCC state.” Ulrichsen addressed the situation for Foreign Policy.