Yemen: Who controls the state?
Advancing Houthis have rejected country’s division into six federal states. Has violence trumped political transition?
Like elsewhere in the Middle East, post-revolutionary Yemen is in trouble. Years of instability created a power vacuum that has been filled with groups trying to overthrow the government.
Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) remains a major threat. The US considers it the group’s most dangerous offshoot. But it is Shia Houthi rebels who are really wielding power.
Over the last six months, they have taken control of large areas of the Arabian Peninsula country, including the capital Sanaa.
The Houthis, backed by former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, pose a major threat to the current president, Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi. Their critics say they are being funded by Iran, something the fighters deny.
Now the Houthis have rejected a UN-brokered agreement that would have seen Yemen’s division into six federal states. And they have threatened to continue their advance and take more territory.
Has violence triumphed over Yemen’s faltering political transition? And what roles are other countries playing in Yemen?
Presenter:
David Foster
Guests:
Osama Sari – Houthi journalist who runs what was formerly a government newspaper, Al Thawra, which is now under Houthi control.
Mohammed Jumeh – Yemeni analyst who was a member of the national conference in Yemen.
Abubakr al-Shamahi – Freelance journalist, writer and blogger.