Southern Movement leader Brigadier Nasser Al-Taweel said he was happy with the launch of a trust fund to compensate Southerners who were unfairly dismissed from military and civil service posts and those who had their land confiscated following Yemen’s 1994 civil war. Al-Taweel called the trust a “step in the right direction.”
Qatar pledged $350 million to the fund.
The establishment of the fund was announced on Sunday in Sana’a in the presence of President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi, U.N. Special Envoy to Yemen Jamal Benomar and Qatari Foreign Affairs Minister Khalid Al-Atyia.
Qatar pledged $350 million to the fund.
The establishment of the fund was declared on Sunday in Sana’a in the presence of President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi, U.N. Special Envoy to Yemen Jamal Benomar and Qatari Foreign Affairs Minister Khalid Al-Atyia.
The trust comes as calls for separation increase.
“The fund is a new foundation for building trust and correcting the injustices of the past,” President Hadi said in a speech he delivered at the inauguration ceremony of the fund.
According to the President Hadi, the trust will be overseen by an independent body that will have to meet certain standards and regulations and will be subjected to oversight.
Qatar steps in as Saudi influence declines
Political analyst Ahmed Sinan said the sizable donation from the Qataris is a way to decrease Saudi influence in Yemen.
“Qatar [knows] that Saudi Arabia gained its influence in Yemen since the 70s through financial support for the state, the regime and tribal sheikhs,” said Sinan. However, “The Saudi influence is [now] declining in favor of Qatar.”
Sinan said that Saudi Arabia and Qatar are funding different groups in Yemen to gain a footing. He accused Qatar of funding Islah, the Yemeni off-shoot of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, which has historically been at odds with Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia has grown, Sinan said, has grown quite cozy with Southerners. The Qataris are starting to court them as well to minimize Saudi influence in the region, he said.
