Sanaa:
Yemen’s Saudi-backed Presidential Leadership Council (PLC) has accepted the resignation of Prime Minister Salem bin Breik and appointed Foreign Minister Shaya Mohsen Zindani as the country’s new prime minister, state news agency Saba reported on Thursday.
According to the report, bin Breik formally submitted his resignation, which was approved by the council. Zindani has now been tasked with forming a new cabinet, marking a significant political shift in the war-torn nation.
Leadership Change Amid Regional Tensions
The development comes at a time of heightened tensions between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, two Gulf powers that have historically backed different factions in Yemen.
In December, the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC), a separatist group seeking an independent southern Yemen, seized control of large areas across the country’s southern and eastern regions. The group’s advance brought its forces close to the Saudi border, a move Riyadh reportedly viewed as a direct threat to its national security.
Saudi-backed forces have since largely reclaimed those territories, but the episode has underscored the growing rift between the two allies.
Saudi-UAE Rift Widens
Beyond battlefield developments, sharp differences over geopolitics, oil production policies, and regional influence have further strained relations between Saudi Arabia and the UAE. While both countries were once aligned in Yemen, their competing strategic interests have increasingly come into conflict.
Saudi Arabia and the UAE were previously part of a military coalition fighting the Iran-backed Houthi rebels, a conflict that has plunged Yemen into one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, with millions displaced and dependent on aid.
Uncertain Road Ahead
With Shaya Mohsen Zindani now set to form a new government, questions remain about whether the leadership change will help stabilise Yemen’s fragile political landscape or further expose divisions among its regional backers.