By ALI AL-MUJAHED AND SUDARSAN RAGHAVAN | The Washington Post |
SANAA, Yemen — The 3-year-old Yemen conflict has largely been cast as a war that pits an internationally recognized government against Iranian-backed rebels who ousted it from the capital and now also control much of the north.
But fighting in the southern Yemeni city of Aden over the past week revealed the extent to which Yemen’s war is also driven by other historic grievances that could pose serious obstacles to negotiating an end to the conflict, according to Yemeni and Western analysts.
Over several days, southern separatists battled their estranged partners – forces loyal to ousted President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi – and briefly seized control of Aden. Both sides belong to the same alliance led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which is fighting the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in an effort to restore Hadi to power.
The battles in Aden have exposed the fragility of that alliance and highlighted the diverging agendas of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Source: Stars And Stripes
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