Yemen Shakes Up Leadership as Saudi Influence Tightens Grip

Yemen’s Saudi-backed presidential leadership council has accepted the resignation of Prime Minister Salem bin Breik and appointed Foreign Minister Shaya Mohsin al-Zindani as the country’s new prime minister, signalling another major power shift amid growing regional tensions.

According to the state news agency Saba, bin Breik formally submitted his resignation, which was approved by the council, before Zindani was tasked on Thursday with forming a new cabinet. The move comes as Saudi Arabia moves to consolidate control over Yemen’s fractured political landscape.

The leadership change unfolds against the backdrop of rising friction between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, former partners in the war against Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi movement. In recent months, those tensions have sharpened over the role of southern separatists and control of key territory.

In December, the Southern Transitional Council, the main southern separatist group and one that Saudi Arabia says is backed by the UAE, seized swathes of southern and eastern Yemen, pushing close to the Saudi border. Riyadh viewed the advance as a direct threat to its national security. Saudi-backed forces have since retaken most of those areas.

Disagreements between Riyadh and Abu Dhabi have also extended beyond Yemen, touching on geopolitics, oil policy and regional influence, straining what was once a close alliance.

On Thursday, Yemen’s eight-member presidential leadership council also dismissed a senior southern separatist figure, further tightening Saudi Arabia’s hold over the country’s decision-making body.

“It was decided to terminate the membership of Faraj Salmeen Al-Bahsani in the Presidential Leadership Council,” the council said in an official resolution.

Bahsani, a vice president of the STC, has been in the UAE for medical treatment and previously served as governor of oil-rich Hadramout province, Yemen’s largest and one of the regions seized by separatist forces. His removal follows the dismissal earlier this month of STC leader Aidarous al-Zubaidi, who was accused of “high treason” and fled to the UAE.

The resolution cited Bahsani’s support for Zubaidi and the STC takeover, as well as statements he had made, as reasons for his dismissal.

Just days earlier, Bahsani told AFP that southern forces would not accept unifying under the command of a Saudi-led coalition, as announced by the head of the presidential council. He also called on Saudi Arabia to allow talks between southern factions to take place outside the kingdom.

“I call on Saudi Arabia to give southerners an opportunity to meet outside Saudi Arabia, away from the pressures that will be exerted on the participants if it is held in Riyadh,” he said.

That appeal followed controversy over a separatist delegation that announced from Riyadh that it had dissolved itself, a move the STC later said was made under duress, accusing Saudi Arabia of detaining its representatives.

Later on Thursday, the leadership council appointed two pro-Saudi figures to replace Zubaidi and Bahsani, reinforcing Riyadh’s dominance. Lieutenant General Mahmoud al-Subaihi, a former defence minister and adviser to council chairman Rashad al-Alimi, and Salem al-Khanbashi, the governor of Hadramout, were named as new members.

Saudi Arabia also underscored its influence with financial support. On Thursday, the kingdom provided Yemen with $90m to cover two months of salaries for public servants and security personnel, according to Yemen’s new prime minister. The payment came a day after Riyadh pledged $500m for humanitarian projects.