WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The Soufan Group cited local reports suggesting that the UAE would like to see the US- and Saudi-backed Hadi government removed from office.
"The [local] reports highlight the shaky political ground on which the Hadi government rests, both in terms of its domestic political support and its regional and international backing," Soufan stated.
In May, growing concerns over the UAE’s expanding influence in southern Yemen peaked after Hadi fired several UAE-backed officials, including the governor of Aden province, the Soufan Group report explained.
The rival Aden government has since organized a series of mass demonstrations calling for Southern Yemen to secede, according to the Soufan Group.
Since 2014, a proxy war between Iranian-backed Houthi Rebels and the Saudi-backed Hadi government has spawned a trifecta of threats from famine, one of world’s biggest cholera epidemics and civilian deaths from Saudi-led airstrikes.
