28-03-2024 06:51 PM Jerusalem Timing

Saudi Arabia Suspends Aid to Yemen

Saudi Arabia Suspends Aid to Yemen

Saudi Arabia suspended most of its financial aid to Yemen, Yemeni and Western sources said, in a clear indication of its dissatisfaction with the growing political crisis in the country.

Yemen flagSaudi Arabia suspended most of its financial aid to Yemen, Yemeni and Western sources said, in a clear indication of its dissatisfaction with the growing political crisis in the country.

Yemen, which is battling an al Qaeda insurgency, a southern secessionist movement, endemic corruption and poor governance, has often relied on its richer northern neighbor to help finance everything from government salaries to welfare payments.

But soon after Ansarullah fighters took over the capital Sanaa in September, Saudi Arabia promptly suspended much of that aid.

A deal signed in September between political parties and Ansarullah called for the formation of a new unity government followed by the powerful group withdrawal from the capital. But even though the new government has been formed, security is still destabilized and Ansarullah fighters continue to man checkpoints around the city and guard many state institutions in the capital.

"The Saudis have conditioned any aid on the implementation of the (deal). The Houthis have to leave before they pay," a senior Yemeni government official told Reuters, expressing the Saudi foreign interference in the Yemen domestic affairs.

A Western diplomatic source in Sanaa also confirmed Saudi aid had been suspended.

"The Saudis see everything through the prism of Iran," the source said, noting at the Saudi accusations against Ansarullah of coordination with the Islamic Republic.

In Riyadh, finance ministry officials did not respond to Reuters' requests for comment. A Saudi foreign ministry spokesman said all financial assistance was handled through the finance ministry and so he was unable to comment.

The West is concerned that Riyadh's approach of withholding aid to Yemen's fledgling government may backfire and push the country towards more instability.