SANA’A (Dispatches) – A
former Yemeni official says the United Kingdom is forming spy cells in eastern Yemen, the Arabi21 website reported.
The former deputy governor of Mahrah governorate, Ali bin Salem al-Huraizy, said at a press conference that “the recent arrival of British forces in Mahrah governorate, located near the border with the Sultanate of Oman, paves the way for the arrival of additional forces in the future”.
He also said British forces have been recruiting some local people to use them for monitoring and spying on institutions, tribal leaders and resistance groups in the region.
“Britain should learn from its previous experiences, following its failed occupation of Yemen which lasted 128 years,” he warned.
Huraizy, a prominent tribal sheikh, accused London of forming spy cells and intelligence channels in Mahrah, just as the governorate “is witnessing a movement against foreign forces”.
Earlier this month, the British newspaper Daily Express published a report on the arrival of a special team affiliated with the British army to Mahrah.
Huraizy said Saudi forces, ever since their deployment in Mahra in November 2017, have worked to bring in other foreign forces.
The former Yemeni official stressed the need to confront foreign forces, describing it as a national duty for all freedom-loving Yemenis.
On Friday, thousands of people held protest rallies across Mahrah against the presence of forces from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and the UK, demanding that they leave the province.
Protesters also called on the Saudi-led invading forces to put an end to the occupation of Yemen.
Saudi Arabia, backed by the U.S. and regional allies, launched the war on Yemen in March 2015, with the goal of bringing the government of former Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi back to power and crushing the popular Ansarullah resistance movement.
The war has left hundreds of thousands of Yemenis dead, and displaced millions more. It has also destroyed Yemen’s infrastructure and spread famine and infectious diseases.