Saudis afraid of Aden under Houthis’ control: Sethi

LAHORE: Iran is supporting the Houthi rebels in Yemen and Saudi Arabia, which was already worried about the Iranian intervention, has projected the internal conflict of Yemen as a Shia-Sunni dispute, Sethi said on Geo News programme ‘Aapas ki Baat’ on Sunday.
During the programme, he shared the historical background of the issue and said Saudi Arabia was perturbed over the possibility of Houthis controlling the port city of Aden from where 20,000 ships passed every year, as that would affect the oil prices. The eastern strip of the kingdom, where the oil reserves were found, had a Shia majority, he said, adding that Houthis controlling Yemen would mean a pro-Iran government there.
Saudi Arabia had previously been backing the Wahabis in Yemen where Al-Qaeda and Isis were the other strong forces, Sethi added. The Saudis, he said, requested the US for support which was denied as every American intervention had resulted in creating another problem.
He said there was no Shia-Sunni dispute in Yemen because of a Sunni majority. The conflict was regional in nature as the Zaidis were demanding autonomy - a problem that could not be solved by both Ali Abdullah Saleh and Mansour Hadi, thus angering the Houthis and removal of the two presidents, he added.
According to Sethi, the Yemen issue is of sense of deprivation that is being portrayed as Shia-Sunni conflict. Saudi Arabia is banking on airstrikes only and it would not succeed without a ground offensive - a strategy that would be avoided because there is no way out once it is launched.
The airstrikes are being used as a tactics to force the Houthis to start dialogue but the civilian causalities are creating hate for Saudis. Even if Saudis are able to control the Houthis, the forces like Al-Qaeda and Isis would remain there and Yemen in their hands would mean a situation similar to Iraq and Syria.
Sethi said Saudi Arabia requested Egypt and Pakistan for assistance and the army but both the countries were not replying positively. Pakistan, he said, did not want a direct role in the matter, which would cause problems for the country too - a scenario disliked by everyone. Pakistan’s position was that they would not allow any threat to Saudi Arabia territorial integrity, he added.
Sethi, however, said Pakistan had entered into a deal about providing troops and a recent story published in the London Post suggested that Pakistani special forces’ units would hold exercises in the kingdom’s south-eastern mountainous region. In case of attacks on the Saudi soil from Yemen, there would be tremendous pressure on Pakistan and Egypt for saving Saudi Arabia, he added.
He said Saudi Arabia had given an amount of $1.5 billion to Pakistan as a gesture of friendship and Pakistan would have to protect Saudi Arabia, when and if required. But how to do that remained a question, he said, adding that Pakistan could provide training and arms as well deploy troops in the Kingdom for safeguarding the frontiers, but could not send soldiers for fighting in Yemen.