Yemen Monitor/ New York/ Exclusive:
The New York Times reported on Wednesday that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has pledged to cover the salaries of Yemeni civilian and military employees, amounting to up to one billion dollars annually.
Citing its sources, the newspaper stated, “Saudi Arabia has now committed to covering salary payments for all Yemeni government employees, civilian and military, for the foreseeable future.”
It added: “This represents a financial commitment exceeding one billion dollars per year, according to two Yemeni officials who were briefed on the plan and spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details that have not been publicly announced.”
Emirati officials have consistently denied funding or arming regional militias, including in Sudan, despite extensive evidence suggesting otherwise. They have only addressed the disagreement with the Saudis in indirect terms.
Anwar Gargash, a senior Emirati official, said at a conference last week: “The UAE has been the target of an unprecedented media campaign. Differences of opinion are normal, but what is abnormal is the indecency of the rivalry.”
In a briefing on January 26, the Saudi Foreign Minister said the Kingdom’s relationship with the UAE is “extremely important,” but highlighted a “difference in views” regarding Yemen, noting that the UAE “has decided to leave” the country.
In January, the war of narratives escalated as Saudi Arabia sought to highlight previous evidence of Emirati human rights violations, taking journalists to Yemen to see abandoned facilities that local officials said were secret prisons run by the UAE.
The officials who conducted the tour—representatives of the internationally recognized, Saudi-backed Yemeni government—said the UAE had detained and tortured Yemenis in those facilities.
None of these allegations were new; a United Nations panel of experts concluded several years ago that Emirati forces in Yemen were responsible for arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, and torture.
However, the UAE Ministry of Defense issued a categorical denial of the allegations raised during the recent tour, stating in a release that they “are not based on any evidence” and are part of a “systematic campaign to tarnish the reputation of the United Arab Emirates.”
