Saudi says UAE-backed advance in Yemen threatens its security
Saudi Arabia declared a UAE-backed separatist advance in Yemen as a threat to Riyadh’s national security on Tuesday and called Abu Dhabi’s actions “highly dangerous”, as the conflict boiled over into an open dispute between the Gulf powers.The strongly worded foreign ministry statement came after the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen said it had struck a United Arab Emirates weapons shipment destined for separatist forces.In recent weeks, separatists backed by Abu Dhabi and seeking to revive the formerly independent state of South Yemen have made sweeping territorial gains after launching a lightning offensive in recent weeks.Experts say their successes have embarrassed Saudi Arabia, a regional heavyweight and the main backer of the internationally recognised Yemeni government.The leader of Yemen’s presidential council, which sits atop that government, declared a state of emergency and cancelled a security pact with Abu Dhabi after the forces of the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) seized swathes of territory.The STC is also part of the government, a fractious patchwork of groups held together by its opposition to the Iran-backed Houthi rebels who control swathes of northern and western Yemen including the capital Sanaa.Saudi Arabia and the UAE, traditionally close allies who joined forces in Yemen against the Houthis, have increasingly been at odds over the conflict on their doorstep, as well as the war in Sudan.”The Kingdom (Saudi Arabia) expresses its disappointment by the actions taken by the brotherly United Arab Emirates, pressuring the Southern Transitional Council’s forces to conduct military operations on the southern border of the Kingdom,” the Saudi statement said.It called them “a threat to the Kingdom’s national security, as well as to security and stability in the Republic of Yemen and the region,” it said.”The steps taken by the UAE are considered highly dangerous,” it said, adding “the Kingdom stresses that any threat to its national security is a red line, and the Kingdom will not hesitate to take all necessary steps and measures to confront and neutralise any such threat”.- ‘Fire is still burning’ -Riyadh also backed a demand from Yemen’s presidential council for Emirati forces to withdraw from the country within 24 hours, and urged Abu Dhabi to cut off military and financial support for Yemeni groups.Rashad al-Alimi, head of the Presidential Leadership Council, issued decrees on Tuesday announcing a 90-day state of emergency and annulling a security pact with the UAE over the separatists’ advance.Earlier, the Saudi-led coalition said it targeted a large quantity of weapons and combat vehicles sent by the UAE for the secessionist forces.The coalition struck two ships carrying “a large quantity of weapons and combat vehicles to support the Southern Transitional Council forces”, the Saudi state news agency SPA reported.”Given the danger and escalation posed by these weapons… the Coalition air forces carried out a limited military operation this morning targeting weapons and combat vehicles that had been unloaded from the two ships at the port of al-Mukalla,” it said.The ships had arrived from the UAE port of Fujairah, SPA said, adding that the operation was conducted in accordance with international humanitarian law and without collateral damage.An official at the port said a warning to evacuate was received at 4:00 am (0100 GMT) local time.”The evacuation completed, and the strike occurred a quarter of an hour later in a dirt area within the port. The fire is still burning,” the official said on condition of anonymity, as he was not authorised to speak to media.- ‘Unacceptable to God’ -Abdullah Bazuhair, whose home overlooks the port, showed AFP the damage to his property, with windows blasted clear out of the walls and glass strewn across the floor. The strikes were “unacceptable to God” he said, adding “the children were terrified and the women frightened”.AFP footage of the port showed dozens of parked military vehicles and pick-ups, several of which were burnt out and smouldering as workers hosed them down.The Saudi-led coalition had warned that it would back Yemen’s government in any military confrontation with separatist forces and urged them to withdraw “peacefully” from recently seized territories in Hadramawt and Mahra governorates.Tuesday’s strike came days after reported Saudi air raids on separatist positions in resource-rich Hadramawt — and after Washington called for restraint in the conflict.In recent days, hundreds of Yemeni tribesmen have gathered in Aden to ask the STC’s leaders to announce the independence of South Yemen, according to the separatist-affiliated Aden Independent Channel.A Yemeni military official said on Friday that around 15,000 Saudi-backed fighters were massed near the Saudi border but had not been given orders to advance on separatist-held territory.burs/th/dcp
Nepal political alliance challenges traditional party dominance
An emerging political bloc in Nepal has gained another heavyweight, with a third key figure joining the new alliance ahead of next year’s election, a party member said on Tuesday.Two of Nepal’s most popular political leaders, television host Rabi Lamichhane of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) and Kathmandu mayor Balendra Shah, agreed on Sunday to unite their parties for the March 5, 2026, polls.They pledged to address the demands of younger “Gen Z” protesters following deadly anti-corruption demonstrations in September that ousted the government.Kulman Ghising of the Ujyalo Nepal Party, who is the energy minister in the interim government, also agreed to join the new alliance late on Monday.”This agreement… has brought an alternative force into the political mainstream,” said Sanjiv Ballav Bhattarai, a former Ujyalo Nepal committee member, who has now joined Lamichhane’s RSP. Ghising, 55, won significant public support when he led the Nepal Electricity Authority in tackling the Himalayan country’s load-shedding crisis.At least 77 people were killed during the youth-led September 8-9 uprising.Protests began under the loose umbrella title of Gen Z, triggered by a brief government ban on social media.The demonstrations tapped into wider public anger at economic stagnation and political corruption in the country of 30 million people.The agreement said the new alliance embraces “the spirit of the Gen Z movement against corruption and bad governance”.Prominent Gen Z protest figures, including Sudan Gurung, played a role in bringing the leaders together for talks.Nepal became a federal republic in 2008 after a decade-long civil war and a peace deal that saw former Maoist insurgents brought into government and the abolishment of the monarchy.A revolving door of ageing prime ministers and a culture of horse-trading between three dominant parties fuelled public perceptions that the government was out of touch.Lamichhane’s RSP emerged as a political surprise in the 2022 general election, when it became the fourth-largest party in parliament.However, Lamichhane has since been embroiled in cases of cooperative fraud and organised crime and was recently released on bail.
Bangladesh’s former prime minister Khaleda Zia dies aged 80
Bangladesh’s former prime minister Khaleda Zia, who many believed would sweep elections next year to lead her country once again, died on Tuesday aged 80.The government declared three days of state mourning for the country’s first woman prime minister, with vast crowds expected to attend her funeral on Wednesday.Despite years of ill health and imprisonment, Zia vowed in November to campaign in elections set for February — the first vote since a mass uprising toppled her arch-rival Sheikh Hasina last year.Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) is widely seen as a frontrunner, and her son Tarique Rahman, who returned only on Thursday after 17 years in exile, is seen a potential prime minister if they win a majority.”The country mourns the loss of a guiding presence that shaped its democratic aspirations,” Rahman said in a statement.He said he was also mourning the loss of the “infinite love” of his mother, who “endured repeated arrests, denial of medical care, and relentless persecution”.”Yet even in pain, confinement, and uncertainty, she never stopped sheltering her family with courage and compassion. Her resilience… was unbreakable.”In late November Zia was rushed to hospital, where, despite the best efforts of medics, her condition deteriorated from a raft of health issues.Nevertheless, hours before her death, party workers had on Monday submitted nomination papers on her behalf for three constituencies for the polls. The BNP said Zia died shortly after dawn on Tuesday.Interim leader Muhammad Yunus said Bangladesh “has lost a great guardian”.”Through her uncompromising leadership, the nation was repeatedly freed from undemocratic conditions and inspired to regain liberty,” Nobel Peace Prize winner Yunus said in a statement.Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he hoped Zia’s “vision and legacy will continue to guide our partnership”, a warm message despite the strained relations between New Delhi and Dhaka since Hasina’s fall.Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said Zia had been a “committed friend” to Islamabad, while China’s ambassador in Dhaka Yao Wen offered his condolences.”China will continue to maintain its longstanding and friendly ties with the BNP,” he said.- ‘Prison over luxury’ -Braving cold rain, mourners gathered on Tuesday outside the hospital in Dhaka where Zia’s body rests.”This is an irreparable loss for the nation,” senior BNP leader Ruhul Kabir Rizvi told reporters, his voice choking with emotion.”She chose prison over luxury and spent years behind bars,” said Golam Kibria, 29, a BNP loyalist who said he was tortured under Hasina’s government, calling Zia an “unmatched leader who can never be replaced”.Three-time prime minister Zia was jailed for corruption in 2018 under Hasina’s government, which also blocked her from travelling abroad for medical treatment.Zia was released last year, shortly after Hasina was forced from power.Hasina, 78, sentenced to death in absentia in November for crimes against humanity, remains in hiding in her old ally India.”I pray for the eternal peace and forgiveness of Begum Khaleda Zia’s soul,” Hasina said, in a statement on social media by her now banned Awami League party.Bangladesh’s Prothom Alo newspaper, which said Zia had “earned the epithet of the ‘uncompromising leader'”, reported that Rahman and other family members were by her side at the time of her death.”The lives of politicians are marked by rises and falls,” the newspaper wrote on Tuesday.”Lawsuits, arrests, imprisonment, persecution, and attacks by adversaries are far from uncommon. Khaleda Zia endured such ordeals at their most extreme.”