Yemen-UAE dispute over Socotra ‘resolved’: Yemeni PM

By Mubarak Mohamed

SANAA (AA) – Yemeni Prime Minister Ahmed Obeid bin Daghr said on Monday the dispute with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) over Socotra island has been resolved.

“The crisis over the island has ended… we have all won for ourselves, our unity, our coalition and Arab identity,” bin Daghr said on Facebook. “The national flag is fluttering again on the seaport and the airport.”

He said both sides agreed that the Island will return to its status before April 30 when UAE deployed forces on the island. Relief aid efforts will also resume with Saudi support.

Tensions have mounted between Yemen and the UAE in recent days, when the latter sent a military force to Socotra without prior coordination with the Yemeni government, which since 2015 has been based in the coastal city of Aden.

The Yemeni government said the UAE force had seized control of the Socotra airport and port once they were deployed, in a move that the government described as “unjustified”.

Saudi Arabia has played a vital role in mediation to ease tension between Yemen and the UAE over the island.

In 2015, Saudi Arabia and its Sunni-Arab allies -- who accuse the Houthis of serving as an Iranian proxy -- launched a massive military campaign against the rebels, who overran much of Yemen, including the capital Sanaa a year earlier. The UAE is part of the Saudi-led coalition.