Yemen’s President Hadi Cedes Powers to Presidential Council After Firing VP

Yemen’s president has ceded his powers to a presidential council. President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi on Thursday first dismissed Vice President Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, a Sunni Islamist-leaning general who has led military campaigns against the rebel Houthis, who are Shiites. Hadi then transferred his own powers to a Presidential Leadership Council made up of a chair and seven deputy chairmen. The move came on the last day of talks to end the long-running civil war in Yemen being held in Riyadh by the Gulf Cooperation Council, which is based in the capital of Saudi Arabia. The Saudis also have since 2015 led a coalition of nine countries in support of the internationally recognized government of Yemen, led by Hadi. The Houthis did not attend the talks, saying that they would be willing to attend talks held in a more neutral location. Hadi’s decision to transfer his powers has the support of Saudi Arabia, which announced $3 billion in financial aid to the Saudi-backed government on Thursday in the wake of the president’s announcement. The aid includes $1 billion each from Saudi Arabia and coalition partner UAE into Yemen’s central bank and an additional $1 billion from Saudi Arabia for petroleum products and development. Saudi Arabia called on the new council to “start negotiations with the Houthis under United Nations auspices for a final and comprehensive solution.” The civil war in Yemen has entered its eighth year and is considered one of the largest humanitarian crises in the world.