Gulf rift sends tremors through Yemen
The decision by Gulf countries involved in the Yemen war to sever ties with Qatar has created complexities on both sides of the Yemen conflict.
No sooner had the Gulf-Qatar crisis begun than the internationally recognized Yemeni government announced June 5 it also was severing ties with Qatar, following in Saudi Arabia’s footsteps. This wasn't surprising, as the Yemeni government enjoys Saudi support.
The Yemeni government, led by President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, welcomed the Saudi expulsion of Qatar from the Saudi-led anti-terrorism alliance against the Houthi rebels. Qatar’s participation was neither remarkable nor effective on the military and political levels, unlike the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia, and was restricted to a small Qatari force of 100 soldiers positioned on the Yemeni-Saudi border.
The main forms of Qatari support for the Hadi government consisted of paying the salaries of Yemeni diplomatic staff for two years, in addition to providing what critics consider biased media coverage of the war in favor of the alliance and the government through media outlets like Al Jazeera in Doha and the New Arab in London, which is owned by a Qatar company.
Qatar funded pro-Muslim Brotherhood news organizations like Yemen Shabab and the Turkey-based Belqees TV, which is owned by Nobel Prize winner and activist Al-Islah member Tawakkol Karman.
