Head of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council (PLC), Rashad Al Alimi, accompanied by a number of council members, have been actively engaging with Arab countries in a bid to bring the conflict in their country to an end. The delegation visited Kuwait, Bahrain, Egypt and Qatar from 6 to 16 June 2022. In late April, they visited Saudi Arabia and the UAE, following the decision by former Yemeni President Abdulbah Mansour Hadi to concede power to Al Alimi and the members of the PLC, under the auspices of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). During these visits, Al Alimi discussed ways to strengthen and develop Yemen’s relations with Arab states, the government’s legitimate efforts to bring peace, stability and reconstruction to Yemen, as well as seeking support for various political, security, military and economic initiatives by the new Council.
These efforts are not unopposed, as members of the “Islah” party attempted to obstruct the PLC efforts, particularly as they were excluded from the newly established official commitees, such as those charged with merging security and military forces. There was a media campaign launched by opposition factions to undermine the public image of the PLC, spreading rumors that some Gulf states refused to receive the delegation, and that the foreign tour was not a success.
As the PLC reached out to Arab neighbors in efforts to consolidate the truce in Yemen, the Arabian Sea to consolidate the truce in Yemen, Jordan’s capital Amman, was hosting the second round of negotiations sponsored by the UN between the PLC and the Houthis on June 6th. The negotiations aimed to persuade the Houthi delegation to accept the UN’s proposal to lift the siege imposed on Taiz, central Yemen, and to remove road blocks between Yemeni governorates, and to abide by the UN armistice, which has been extended for an additional two months ending in August.
The PLC tour had several objectives, including
Establishing legitimacy : Through these diplomatic tours, Al Alimi is seeking to confer legitimacy on the transfer of power from the former Yemeni President to an inclusive eight-member presidential council, and to convey the message that the PLC will put an end to corruption. The obstruction of these efforts by Islamist parties demonstrates they fear of being excluded from the country’s political and military institutions.
Securing Gulf support for Yemen’s economy: Al Alimi hopes to secure the support of three Gulf countries (Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar) to ease the country’s economic crisis, which has entered its eighth consecutive year. Widening the scope of Gulf support reduces political and economic reliance on Saudi Arabia and the UAE, and will help in the PLC’s push for reforms to restore Yemen’s economy and local currency and improve the living conditions of the Yemeni citizen. On Twitter, Al Alimi explained that his foreign tour was focused on mobilizing the required support for the Yemeni economy, restoring the state, and bringing peace to the country.
Al Alimi began his Arab tour by visiting Kuwait to reactivate the support it had previously demonstrated to Yemeni development efforts. The visit resulted in the appointment of a special envoy to manage all forms of Kuwaiti support in Yemen during the next phase. Historically, Kuwait has provided immense humanitarian and economic support, and has launched a number of projects in cities under the control of the internationally recognized government.
Al Alimi also held discussions with a number of Qatari officials on ways of supporting Yemen in the fields of electricity, health, education and humanitarian relief. An agreement was reached to provide urgent support for a number of vital projects.
Maritime security: In Egypt, Al Alimi addressed security threats to navigation in the Red Sea,and the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, and the need to ensure the safety of global trade routes, and the role Egypt can play in that respect. The imminent crisis resulting from the condition of the oil tanker, Safar, at the Ras Issa oil port in Hodeida (western Yemen) was also discussed. The PLC delegation praised the refuge provided by Egypt to over one million Yemenis residing on its territory due to the conditions of war in their country, as well as the government’s efforts to facilitate the resumption of commercial flights between Cairo and Sanaa at the beginning of June. The Head of the PLC expressed his hopes for continued security and military coordination between the two countries to overcome Yemen’s challenges and restore peace and stability.
A diplomatic return to the Arab World: A central objective of this round is to put Yemen back on the Arab map and revitalize relations that have waned with some Arab countries. Thus, Yemen resumed bilateral relations with Qatar after stalling for more than three years in the context of the Gulf crisis 2017. The visit by Yemen’s Foreign Minister Ahmad Awad bin Mubarak to Doha in March 2021, relaunched the operations of Yemen’s embassy there.
These visits by Al Alimi and the PLC delegation were also a message to Iran that Arab heavyweights from the Gulf to Egypt will not accept surrendering the North of Yemen to be ruled by the Houthis, and that Yemen’s security and stability are of paramount importance to the security of the entire Arab region. The visits sought to demonstrate that Yemen will continue to rely on Arab countries in the battle to restore the state, and safeguard against any external interventions that impede the country’s peace process.
In summary, the meetings held by the PLC with the leaders of Arab states sought to demonstrate that Yemen now has a government that is backed by the Yemeni people, as well as by key regional and international players. Regional support was reflected in the reception the delegation received in Kuwait, Bahrain, Egypt and Qatar, which gives a glimmer of hope that the new council is on the path to end the long suffering of the Yemeni people. The various means of support that Arab countries will provide to Yemen will contribute to maintaining unity and consensus among the members of the Council, which in turn will leverage Al-Alimi’s leadership in future negotiations with the Houthis to reach a permanent ceasefire and pave the way for an end to the war.