Saudi-led investigations targets Yemen MB, Qatari scheme

Ali Ragab

Qatar continues to target the Arab coalition in Yemen in order to achieve certain schemes, as revealed by Yemeni newspaper ‘Al-Ayyam’, which reported extensive intelligence investigations that exposed Qatar’s penetration of the government and funding Muslim Brotherhood elements and leaders to obstruct coalition efforts to restore legitimacy in Yemen and defeat the Houthi coup.

According to the newspaper, the Saudi intelligence summoned Yemeni officials in order to interrogate them on charges of espionage, and receiving money and bribes from Qatar and Turkey.

According to officials, several accusations were made against government officials who used Qatari funds to finance acts of destabilization in Yemen, as well as other charges of collusion and the use of terrorists.

The accusations included sending daily reports to Qatar and Turkey about details of meetings between Yemeni and Saudi officials, as well as details regarding the Riyadh agreement negotiations.

Al-Ayyam newspaper reported that the son of the Yemeni President, Brigadier Nasser Abdrabbuh Mansu, head of the Presidential Protection Force, was questioned about the smuggling of weapons, among other charges.

Media sources said that an aide to Vice President Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, who did not name him, was detained by the Saudi State Security for days.

The talk of Qatar’s breach of legitimacy comes in the light of previous reports that the Yemeni Rally for Reform (the Brotherhood of Yemen) and officials in the legitimate government have become platforms to attack the Arab coalition led by Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

Yemeni politician Kamel al-Khodani told The Reference in an interview that Qatar has recruited Muslim Brotherhood figures to infiltrate and mess with the Yemeni interior.

He further added that Al-Islah party is the one party that controls legitimacy in Yemen, and that delaying the Riyadh agreement was caused by Qatari interference.

The Yemeni political analyst added that among the signs implemented by the Qatari legitimacy wing in Yemen, is the deal to release those involved in the bombings of the presidential mosque in 2011, which aimed to assassinate late President Ali Abdullah Saleh, which was sponsored and funded by Qatar.

The Yemeni politician and leader of the Southern Transitional Council, Nizar Haytham, considered that Qatar’s breach of legitimacy is clear and the Doha is working with the Muslim Brotherhood to hinder the successes of the Arab coalition.

Haytham stressed in statements to The Reference, that Qatar and Iran are plotting against the Arab coalition in Yemen and against the southerners, so they seek through their recruits – the Muslim Brotherhood and the Houthis – to implement all conspiracies to serve their schemes.

He explained that during the negotiations between the Houthis and the Muslim Brotherhood in 2014, leaders of the Islah Party rushed to Sa’ada, headed by Abdul Wahab al-Ansi, the party’s secretary general, to meet with Abdul Malik al-Houthi, and concluded secret agreements, as they agreed to hand over the keys of Sanaa to the Houthis.