Sana'a, 16 January (H.S.): Yemen's Saudi-backed Presidential Leadership Council accepted the resignation of Prime Minister Salem bin Breik on Thursday and swiftly appointed Foreign Minister Shaya Mohsen Zindani as his replacement, tasked with forming a new cabinet amid escalating frictions between the kingdom and the United Arab Emirates.

Bin Breik's formal resignation, approved without delay by the council, underscores deepening rifts between the Gulf powers that once jointly combated Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen's protracted civil war—one of the gravest humanitarian crises worldwide.

Tensions peaked last month when the UAE-supported Southern Transitional Council seized swathes of southern and eastern Yemen, advancing perilously close to Saudi borders, prompting Riyadh's forces to reclaim most territories amid broader disputes spanning geopolitics to oil production quotas.

Zindani, elevated per state news agency Saba, inherits a fractured landscape where Saudi Arabia views southern separatist gains as existential threats to its security. The UAE-Saudi coalition, fractured over strategic divergences, had sustained a military campaign against Houthis since 2015, but recent divergences highlight divergent visions for Yemen's future as both nations recalibrate influence in the strategically vital Red Sea chokepoint.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar