1. Skip to content
  2. Skip to main menu
  3. Skip to more DW sites
In focus
ChristmasSyriaGerman election 2025
Latest audioLatest videos
Live TV
Conflicts

Saudi and UAE leaders meet to heal Yemen rift

August 12, 2019

Saudi Arabia has affirmed its support for the exiled Yemini leader after UAE-backed separatists seized the southern city of Aden from forces loyal to the internationally backed government.

https://p.dw.com/p/3Nmy6
Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz with Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan
Image: Getty Images/AFP/M. Al-Hammadi

Leaders of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia met in Riyadh on Monday in an effort to heal a rift in their Western-backed military alliance, which has been battling the Iran-aligned Houthi movement in Yemen since 2015.

The Saudi-led Sunni Muslim alliance became fractured after insurgents linked to Yemen's Southern Transit Council (STC) separatist movement — which was armed and trained by the UAE — on Saturday took effective control of Aden, the temporary seat of Yemen's Saudi-supported government.

Saudi Arabia on Monday affirmed its support for Yemen's President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, who is currently based in the Saudi capital. 

Read more: UAE scaling back military role in Yemen conflict

Helping the Houthis

The Saudi-led alliance has been fighting a proxy war on behalf of Hadi's ousted Yemini government against the Iran-aligned Houthi movement, which controls vast swathes of Yemen's north, including the capital Sanaa.

There are fears that further damage to the Saudi-led Sunni alliance would boost their common enemy, the Houthis, and their regional rival Shiite Iran.

Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan voiced continued solidarity with Saudi Arabia in Yemen and called for talks between Aden's warring parties.

"The UAE and Saudi Arabia call on conflicting Yemeni parties to prioritise dialogue and reason for the interest of Yemen," state news agency WAM quoted him as saying after meeting Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

The separatist chief, STC president Aidaroos al-Zubaidi, said his group still supports the coalition against the Houthis. Although he did not commit to withdrawing forces from government sites, he indicated he would attend a proposed emergency summit in Saudi Arabia.

The UAE did not directly ask the STC to cede control of Aden.

Saudi Arabia and Iran are also on opposite sides of the war in Syria. 

After 5 years of war, Yemenis on the brink

kw/aw (AFP, dpa, Reuters) 

DW sends out a daily selection of the day's news and features. Sign up here.

Skip next section Explore more

Explore more

A handout picture made available by the Emirates News Agency (WAM) shows citizens greeting a convoy of UAE military vehicles and personnel as it travels from Al Hamra Military Base to Zayed Military City, marking the return of the first batch of UAE Armed Forces military personnel from Yemen, at Marfa, western region of Abu Dhabi, UAE, 07 November 2015

In Yemen war, coalition forces rely on German arms and technology

In Yemen war, coalition forces rely on German arms and technology

Germany prides itself on its restrictive export policies, which ban arms sales to countries involved in armed conflict. But a DW exclusive shows the Saudi-led coalition at war in Yemen uses German-built weapons and tech. (26.02.2019)
PoliticsFebruary 26, 2019
Jemen Konflikt

Yemen: The devastating war waged with European weapons

Yemen: The devastating war waged with European weapons

DW commissioned the Jordan-based group Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism to find out where terrorist groups waging Yemen's devastating conflict are procuring vast weapons stockpiles. The conclusion: Europe. (30.11.2018)
ConflictsNovember 30, 2018