Saturday May 5, 2018
The flag of the United Arab Emirates has been raised over public buildings on Yemen's pristine Socotra island.
The flag of the United Arab Emirates has been raised over public buildings in Yemen's Socotra, an island near Somalia's northeastern coast that is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Some locals see it as a power grab at the expense of their internationally recognised government led by President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi. The Hadi government says the UAE action is an act of hostility.
newsinsdeFormally, they are allies in the Saudi-led war against the Houthi
rebels in the capital Sanaa. But the UAE has promoted separatists in
the south and now calls the shots in large parts of that region and
Socotra.
And it is not just in southern Yemen: the Gulf country has been
expanding its military influence across the Red Sea and Horn of Africa
regions.
So, why is the UAE deploying troops in Socotra and elsewhere?