Gulf academic opens secret code of UAE decision to withdraw troops from Yemen
English - Tuesday 16 July 2019 الساعة 10:04 am
Aden – NewsYemen.net
"The participation of the UAE in the war in Yemen was not a symbolic and transitory one, but it was effective and it is difficult to dispense it or replace it quickly and easily," said Abdulkhaliq Abdullah, a professor of the political science at the UAE University.
"This strategic decision will have profound, positive and far-reaching military and political implications if it is well received by the Iranian-backed and insurgent Houthi group," he said in an article published by CNN in the United States.
Reducing its forces on the ground and suitable to revive peace efforts and end the war in Yemen."This decision, if it is understood in Tehran, can have a huge effect in alleviating regional tension which reached unprecedented levels in 2019.
The ball is now in the opponent Houthi and Iranian court, and they have to respond to the move of the UAE better. "He continued: "But whatever the initial Houthi response hesitant and skeptical, it is certain that the decision of the United Arab Emirates is a final decision and was taken after deep thinking and in full coordination with the leadership of the Arab Coalition supporting the Legitimacy in Yemen."
"But the military withdrawal will not be rapid, but will be implemented gradually and will be in several stages and will include in the first phase to reduce the forces to a half, current number of 5000 soldiers, and will include the withdrawal of mechanisms, armored vehicles, tanks, heavy weapons, helicopters, missile defense systems and advanced interceptor in several Fronts including in al-Hodeida Front, the Western Coastal line and the Port of Aden.
According to the UAE academic, "about half of the UAE forces operating in Yemen have been withdrawn so far despite the official announcement of this."He believed that the decision to withdraw the UAE forces comes in line with the latest developments in the fighting fronts in Yemen. On the one hand, and beyond the ongoing air clashes, the most important motive for the troop withdrawal is the significant reduction in the number and type of combat operations on the ground by 80% on some fronts during the first half of 2019.
He stressed that the large decline in daily confrontations in the battlefields is the most important motive to reduce the UAE military presence in Yemen.
He pointed out that the decision of the UAE to withdraw its forces from Yemen coincided with the relative calm at al-Hodeida city and its ports since the signing of the Stockholm agreement , especially during the last months of 2019.
"The Red Sea front in al-Hodeida has been the most important battlefield in the last two years, but because of the decline in fighting, the UAE has gradually and systematically withdrawn about 80 percent of its forces that were about to resolve the battle in al-Hodeida and liberate it from the control of the Houthi militias," said the UAE academic.
He said that there is also a third motive is that the readiness of the Legitimacy forces which is currently facing violations of the Houthi group and the liberation of the remaining cities and villages and Yemeni ports under the control of the Houthi group.
He stressed that no one can yet decide to withdraw the UAE troops from Yemen, or to blame the UAE for being responsible for prolonging the war in Yemen.
The Houthi militias are responsible for the prolonging war in Yemen and the militias are the only biggest beneficiary of the war in Yemen, said Abdulkhaliq Abdullah, "Iran also wants the war in Yemen to continue indefinitely to drain Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates."
