Dubai: Given its strategic location on the Arabian Peninsula and its vast oil, natural gas, mineral wealth (especially gold) and, most important, its water resources, regional powers perceived Yemen as one of the most valuable regional assets.
In the highly charged political environment, Al Houthi tribal leaders, now supported by Iran, believed that Saudi Arabia robbed Yemen of its resources. This, however, stood in direct contradiction to the reality on the ground, because Riyadh extended unprecedented assistance to Sana’a. Tensions between Saudis and Al Houthis grew and then worsened after 2004.
In fact, the Al Houthi rebellion, which as the brainchild of Hussain Badr Al Din Al Houthi, targeted the government of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, who was pro-Saudi, precisely because the tribe perceived that government to be beholden to Riyadh. By 2009, clashes with Saudi forces along the border led Riyadh to launch a military offensive that resulted in several thousand casualties, including 133 Saudis killed; six Saudis were still unaccounted for and may be prisoners of war in Al Houthi hands.
These confrontations notwithstanding, the reality on the ground in terms of Saudi assistance to Yemen was undeniable and, over the years, successive governments poured billions of dollars into Sana’a. In 2006, for example, Riyadh organised a donors’ conference in London to assist Yemen, and pledged $1 billion (Dh3.67 billion). A year later, an additional $652 million was transferred to improve facilities at four hospitals, a power plant in Ma’rib, as well as a number of technical training centres. Various programmes, including locust control, the transfer of vehicles and military equipment, were approved as a matter of routine.
In 2007, when King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz declared Yemen’s security as being inseparable from Saudi Arabia’s, an additional billion dollars was transferred to boost the Saleh regime. Several hundred Yemeni students received scholarships at Saudi universities and, of course, notwithstanding the million Yemenis who were expelled from Saudi Arabia after the 1991 War for Kuwait when Saleh stood with Saddam Hussain, there were at least 800,000 Yemenis toiling in Saudi Arabia in 2014. Their remittances, estimated to be about $2 billion a year, helped to avoid abject poverty. In the aftermath of the 2012 revolution, which saw Saleh leave office, Riyadh allocated another $3.2 billion to the government of President Abed Rabu Mansour Al Hadi, as the latter battled Islamist groups, including Al Houthis and Al Qaida operatives.
As an oddity in Saudi-Yemeni ties, it was worth noting that a large number of affluent Saudi nationals were of Yemeni descent. The most renowned families including Bin Ladin, Bin Mahfouz, and Bouqshan, transferred significant sums to Yemen.
What stood out in more recent tribal/religious relationships was the rise of tensions between Al Houthi and Wahhabis. Increasingly virulent rhetoric on both sides surfaced, which bode ill for an impoverished Yemen, even if the only country that extended serious assistance remained Saudi Arabia. Without that aid, the current catastrophic economic crisis, including serious food shortages, was bound to increase.
