Muscat... The epicenter of Riyadh and Abu Dhabi blackmail, or a Gulf detour to encircle the "Yemeni chaos"
English - Thursday 20 October 2022 الساعة 08:56 am
Taiz, NewsYemen, special:
Minutes after the Houthi group thwarted efforts to extend the UN armistice on the evening of the second of October. The group's spokesman, Muhammad Abd al-Salam, who resides in Muscat, was republishing the threat of the group's militia spokesman to strike oil companies in Saudi Arabia and the UAE. In a scene that brings to the fore the questions about the role Oman plays in the conflict in Yemen, which claims to be neutral and distanced from the conflict.
Although what the man did was nothing more than a normal activity that he has been practicing for years as a spokesman for armed militias waging a war against the Arab coalition, its importance comes in connection with the sensitive circumstance that international and international efforts are going through to stop the conflict in Yemen and enter into the peace project, which is supposed to The Omani regime, which presents itself as a peace broker, is working on it, not turning its lands into a platform for the Houthi threats.
A contradiction that reflects the difficulty the Omani regime faces in reconciling its attempt to appear as a dove of peace in the conflicts in the region, including Yemen, through the policy of “disassociation,” which it has emphasized for decades, and the realities of politics and economic figures that oblige it to be a party to these conflicts, even if Behind the curtain to secure his interests and influence that guarantee his survival and continuity.
And the possibility that the Gulf-Yemeni neighbor, which has had open relations with Iran since the previous sultan, undertakes the policy of surrounding the contradictions in the Yemeni conflict, which resembles ocean waves without borders, where leaders move from one policy to the other.
And by following what the Sultanate has done and is doing during the years of war in Yemen. A clear picture emerges of an Omani role that stands with the camp facing the role of the coalition in Yemen, starting with Iran and its Houthi arm, ending with Qatar, the Muslim Brotherhood, and the forces, political entities, personalities and groups between them that are linked by one goal, which is hostility to the coalition countries (Saudi Arabia and the UAE).
Perhaps the most important thing that can be inferred here on this role is the list recently published by Brotherhood journalist Anis Mansour with the names of personalities residing in the Omani capital, Muscat, who offered him the duty of condolences on the death of his son, who died on Friday.
The list included a remarkable assortment of Houthi leaders and journalists and activists who run Brotherhood media outlets from inside Oman. The list also included two legitimate officials, leaders and southern personalities. In addition to leaders and sheikhs affiliated with the Congress Party. Muscat provided them with residence to ensure that they did not join the legitimacy camp and the coalition after the killing of former President Ali Saleh at the hands of the Houthis in late 2017, according to a report by the Sana’a Center for Studies.
This lineup reveals how Muscat has become a refuge for all the contradictory forces in ideas and projects, but they agree in hostility to the coalition, which is - it seems - the only condition for their residence in a Gulf country where the average Yemeni citizen can only stay for limited hours as a temporary transit station. In addition to finding work and accommodation in it.
Unlike most of the economies of the Gulf countries, Oman's economy suffers from real problems related to its inability to get rid of dependence on limited oil revenues and diversify sources of income, as is the case in the Emirates and currently in Saudi Arabia. This was confirmed in the crisis that the Omani economy suffered due to the Corona crisis in 2020, due to the collapse of oil prices. The crisis passed at that time with Qatari support.
The Omani regime sees - according to the analyzes of observers - that its hidden involvement in the conflict in Yemen by supporting the forces hostile to the coalition and hosting them on its lands as part of a general policy through which it aims to gain an influential role in the conflict may push Saudi Arabia and the UAE to win its favor with investments and agreements that save its economy, even if it is to ruin the country Next door is Yemen.
However, the two princes, Mohammed bin Zayed, President of the UAE, and Mohammed bin Salman, the Crown Prince and Saudi Prime Minister, opened up to the new sultan and visited him in his capital. Riyadh welcomed him warmly and opened joint projects. His country is currently making a great effort to pass international consensus in exchange for Houthi interests and arrangements.
