Yemen's Hadi 'irreversibly' cedes powers to new leadership council

RIYADH -- Yemen's president announced Thursday (April 7) he is handing his powers to a new leadership council to be headed by Rashad al-Alimi, a presidential adviser and former interior minister.

The move, which analysts greeted with cautious optimism, comes as a fragile ceasefire takes hold between the warring sides in Yemen.

"I irreversibly delegate to this presidential leadership council my full powers," president Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi said in a televised statement early Thursday, the final day of Yemen talks held in the Saudi capital Riyadh.

Hadi also announced he had sacked Vice President Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar.

The new council will consist of eight members and be led by al-Alimi, a well-known figure in Yemen's political scene.

In 2019, the National Alliance of Yemeni Political Forces (NAYPF), made up of 16 of the country's largest active political parties, chose al-Alimi as its president.

The NAYPF was seen at the time as being very important for unifying the political parties' positions behind the legitimate government, restoring the state and implementing the outputs of the National Dialogue Conference.

The National Dialogue Conference, which concluded in January 2014, was part of Yemen crisis reconciliation efforts that were intended to lead the country towards peace. Its efforts were largely derailed by the Houthis' coup later that year.

The Houthis, with backing from Iran, have led Yemen into a grinding war that has devastated the country, killed or maimed 10,000 Yemeni children and sparked one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.

Hadi said the newly announced leadership council would be tasked with "negotiating with the Houthis for a permanent ceasefire".

He said it also should sit down for talks "to reach a final and comprehensive political solution that includes a transitional phase that will move Yemen from a state of war to a state of peace".

'A glimmer of hope'

A truce brokered by the United Nations (UN) that took effect Saturday -- the first day of Ramadan -- has offered a glimmer of hope in the conflict.

As part of the truce, the Arab coalition agreed to ease its air and sea blockade to allow commercial flights to fly into Sanaa and fuel and more food shipments into al-Hodeidah port, an aid lifeline.

UN special envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg said Wednesday there had been a "significant reduction of violence" since the truce took effect, but both sides have accused each other of minor "breaches" of the ceasefire.

The truce came as discussions on Yemen were unfolding in Riyadh. The Houthis, however, refused to attend the talks.

Some analysts had cast doubt on what the negotiations could achieve in the absence of the Houthis, but Thursday's news may help the Arab coalition speak with one voice in any future peace negotiations.

The anti-Houthi camp has seen friction between southern separatists -- the Southern Transitional Council (STC) -- and northern unionists loyal to Hadi, with Riyadh negotiating a power-sharing agreement and new government in 2019.

Hadi's internationally recognised government has been locked in conflict with the Iran-backed Houthis, who control Sanaa and most of the north.

Hadi fled to Aden -- now Yemen's provisional capital -- in February 2015, and then Saudi Arabia, where he has governed in exile. The Saudi-led Arab coalition intervened in the conflict in support of Yemen's government in March 2015.

A significant shift

Saudi Arabia said it welcomed Hadi's announcement and pledged $3 billion in aid and support for Yemen, some of it to be paid by the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The formation of the new council represents "the most consequential shift in the inner workings of the anti-Houthi bloc since the war began", Peter Salisbury, senior Yemen analyst for the International Crisis Group, said on Twitter.

But he cautioned that implementing the arrangement would be "complicated to say the least".

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met the council and said he hoped for a "new page" in Yemen, footage aired by state media showed.

Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) secretary-general Nayef al-Hajraf also welcomed Hadi's announcement, pledging the bloc's support for the new leadership council "in its tasks to achieve safety and security" in Yemen.

Yemen's 30 million people are in dire need of assistance.

A UN donors' conference raised less than a third of its $4.27 billion target, prompting warnings for a country where 80% of the population depends on aid.