According to reports, Saudi Arabia pressured Yemen's president to resign
Key Takeaways:
- Saudi Arabia forced Yemen's president to resign earlier this month, and officials have kept him confined to his residence and prohibited his interactions with the outside world.
- According to the Journal, some Saudi officials threatened to reveal what they said was evidence of Hadi's corruption in order to force him to quit.
As per the Wall Street Journal, Saudi Arabia pressured Yemen's president to resign early this month, and officials have confined him to his home and limited his interactions.
On April 7, Yemeni President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi announced his retirement, handing over his responsibilities to a new leadership council. The country entered a tenuous truce, bringing a rare halt to the conflict.
The Journal reported, citing anonymous Saudi and Yemeni officials, that Riyadh's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman granted Hadi a written proclamation transferring his responsibilities to the council, which comprises eight delegates from various Yemeni parties.
According to the authorities, to persuade Hadi to resign, some Saudi officials threatened to release what they claimed was evidence of his corruption, according to the Journal.
According to a Saudi official, Hadi has been restricted to his Riyadh home since leaving the government, with no access to phones.
Another Saudi official, meanwhile, claimed that Hadi was persuaded to resign because various Yemeni factions had lost faith in his capacity to rule the Middle Eastern country.
Hadi's resignation was welcomed by Saudi Arabia, which committed $3 billion in aid and support to its war-torn neighbor.
Hadi's internationally recognized government had been at odds with the Iran-backed Huthis for seven years, despite a Saudi-led coalition's military intervention in 2015. The Huthis hold the capital Sanaa and much of the north.
Hadi has been based in Saudi Arabia since fleeing the country that year as rebel forces closed in on his last stronghold, Aden, in the south.
According to the United Nations, hundreds of thousands have been killed directly or indirectly due to the war, which has produced the world's biggest humanitarian crisis, with millions on the verge of starvation.
Hadi's power transfer to the council came after meetings in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, that brought together anti-Huthi forces but were boycotted by the Huthis, who refused to attend talks on "enemy" land.
The revelations came after the commencement of a two-month renewable UN-brokered cease-fire, which has provided a rare reprieve from violence and sparked cautious optimism that the war could finally conclude.
The Huthis, on the other hand, described Hadi's resignation as a "desperate attempt to reshuffle the ranks of the mercenaries" fighting in Yemen, insisting that peace would only arrive when foreign forces left.