Dubai: The six Gulf Arab countries, and not the UN, should have a vital role to play in protecting Yemen from falling into the abyss, a Yemeni analyst said.

The absence of an active Gulf Arab role has encouraged Iran to take advantage and enjoy influence in the Yemeni political arena, added Mustafa No’man, a Yemeni politician and former Sana’a ambassador to Spain.

Speaking to Gulf News during a recent visit to Dubai, No’man said, “the regional countries, [including] the GCC countries, have left Yemen an open [playing] field,” he said.

“Yemen is not an island isolated from the GCC. Geographically, it [Yemen] is part of the [Gulf] even if it not part of the Gulf Cooperation Council,” he added.

“GCC countries have left the Yemeni dossier to UN special envoy Jamal Benomar,” he said.

“Three months back, the GCC appointed a special envoy to Yemen, Saleh Bin Abdul Aziz Al Qunaieer. He visited Sana’a once and never came back, while the current visit by Benomar is may be the 29th or 30th visit,” he said.

Al Qunaieer is tasked with supervising the implementation of the Gulf Initiative in Yemen, which was reached to resolve the issues that were the result of the uprising that started in February 2011 and lasted for 13 months. As a result, former Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh resigned from the presidency and formally transferred power to his successor Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi.

The withdrawal of a GCC role in Yemen has encouraged Iran to step in Yemeni affairs, he said.

“I say Iran should not have a role in Yemen. But if there is a vacuum, Iran will fill it,” No’man noted, expressing fear that his country will be divided into smaller entities, where each side will rule what is under its control.

“The state has collapsed in Yemen. The government doesn’t exist. The army has disappeared. The security organisations came under the control of Al Houthi rebels. What country we are talking about?”

After several weeks of political tension crippling the country, Yemen’s main political factions, including the Al Houthi rebels, signed an agreement last Saturday giving the authority to the president and prime minister to form a new government. Yemeni Prime Minister Khaled Bahah will head the selection of the new ministers with consultation from President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi, a statement emailed from the 13 political parties said.

“We, the political parties, ask President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi and Prime Minister Khaled Bahah to form a competent national government... which is committed to the protection of human rights, rule of law and neutrality in the management of affairs of the country,” the statement said.

The ongoing fighting and the political tension will only end when “Al Houthi rebels become convinced that they are citizens and they have to abide by the agreements,” No’man said.

Al Houthis have become Yemen’s power-brokers recently. In September they captured the capital and a number of key cities and towns, and are waging battles with opposing tribes and Al Qaida-linked fighters. Under a UN-sponsored accord signed last month, Al Houthis were to withdraw from Sana’a and disarm once a neutral prime minister was named. But this did not happen, and the named premier faced difficulties in forming his cabinet.

“What Al Houthis are doing is actually benefiting Al Qaida,” No’man said. “Because the ordinary people will seek the support of any group that is capable of protecting them, and in the absence of the state’s institutions, people will go to Al Qaida and this why what is happening now is dangerous.”