Saudi Arabia knows it cannot reoccupy Yemen, analyst says

Press TV has conducted an interview with Ali al-Ahmed, director of the Institute for (Persian) Gulf Affairs (IGA) in Washington, to discuss the military campaign launched by Saudi Arabia against Yemen.

The following is a rough transcription of the interview.

Press TV: This breaking news that we have, ‘one Saudi has been killed based on the attacks that happened in Najran’. So obviously, this will have an impact in terms of at least the battlefield.

Ahmed: Yeah I think it is a big... from a military standpoint it is not a big battle, but it shows that the Yemeni forces are able, if they want, to attack inside Saudi Arabia, inside the cities, and may even take territories. We have seen that they have taken some posts, so I think this is huge if the Yemeni army is able to do similar things in different cities, I think this will turn the war in a different direction.

Press TV: What about the reports that were conflicting yet it seems to point to the direction that there were indeed Saudi troops that were inside the border inside Yemen. It was said to be anywhere from 20 to 200. I doubt that it would be only 20 of them but there was some footage showing in one of the channels that looked like there was Saudi military personnel on the Yemen side, around the border where the Gulf of Aden is at least. Do you believe in those reports and what does that show? Are Saudis now going to maybe gradually move into Yemen, in terms of a ground invasion?

Ahmed: I think from my assessment looking at these photos yesterday, the arms that they were carrying, these are Swedish-made anti-tank missiles, which are owned only by the Saudi army in the Middle East and so I do believe they were Saudis, they looked Saudis, and the arms that they carried were Swedish-made arms that are owned by Saudis alone. I think most likely they were Saudis and they came I think for show and they retreated obviously so because they are not there any longer. Because I think there is not a hospitable environment for large Saudi contingent at this moment.

Press TV: And altogether is the assessment correct that the Saudis are interested in really, for example Aden is obviously very important to them, obviously it has a symbolic and historic importance for them. But they want to pretty much separate southern from the northern part of Yemen, push the Ansarullah fighters and the Houthis into the northern part; is that the ultimate goal that they have behind their incursions and their aerial campaign in Yemen?

Ahmed: I think right now they are trying to find a city where they can declare a government and return [the fugitive former president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur] Hadi to that city, and declare that this is the legitimate Yemeni government. That has not worked out yet, they are looking even for an alternative other than Aden, further to the south, away from the Ansarullah, and the Yemeni army. So they have not been successful so far on the ground. Like I said before, I think right now the Saudis realize that they cannot reoccupy Yemen politically or militarily, so they are on the path of scorched-earth policy where they want to turn the clock on Yemen 40 or 50 years so Yemen will remain dependent on them.

MTM/HSN

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