Saudi Arabia urges Yemen’s president to resign

Saudi Arabia pressured Yemen’s president to resign early this month.

Officials have also confined him to his house and restricted his interactions. 

On April 7, Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi announced his resignation.

Handing over control to a new leadership council as Yemen entered a shaky truce, bringing a rare halt in the years-long battle. 

Riyadh’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman granted Hadi a written proclamation transferring his responsibilities to council.

This is made up of eight delegates from various Yemeni parties.  

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Some Saudi officials also threaten to publicize what they said was evidence of Hadi’s corruption.

“Since leaving office, Hadi has confined to his house in Riyadh and denied access to phones” Saudi official stated. 

But another Saudi official said Hadi was encouraged to resign because various Yemeni factions had lost confidence in his ability to lead the Middle Eastern nation. 

Saudi Arabia welcomes Hadi’s resignation announcement and pledged $3 billion in support for its war-torn neighbour. 

Hadi’s internationally recognized government had also locked in conflict for seven years against Iran-backed Huthis.

They control the capital Sanaa and most of the north despite a Saudi-led coalition’s military intervention launched in 2015. 

Hadi has based in Saudi Arabia since fleeing to the kingdom that year as rebel forces closed in on his last redoubt, the southern port city of Aden. 

The conflict has killed hundreds of thousands, either directly or indirectly.

It has precipitated what the UN deems the world’s greatest humanitarian catastrophe, with millions on the verge of starvation. 

Hadi’s delegating authority to the council occurred at the end of discussions in the Saudi capital Riyadh.

This brought together anti-Huthi groups but were boycotted by the Huthis because they refused to meet on “enemy” land. 

The revelations came after the commencement of a renewable, UN-brokered two-month truce.

This provided a rare reprieve from violence and fueled cautious optimism that the conflict may finally end. 

The Huthis saw Hadi’s resignation as a “desperate attempt to reshuffle the ranks of the mercenaries” fighting in Yemen.