Ambassador and head of Yemen’s permanent delegation to UNESCO: There is a hidden inclination to divide Yemen

Ahmad al-Sayyad, “ambassador and head of Yemen’s permanent delegation” to the Paris-based UNESCO, said there is synergy between the roles of Saudi Arabia and the UAE. There is a hidden inclination to divide Yemen

Al-Sayyad’s comments come To Al Jazeera Arabic Channel after a UAE occupation of over the island of Socotra, southwest of Yemen, adding  “It’s time to sit down with the Saudi-led coalition and find out what they want in Yemen”

Socotra, located near Somalia in the Gulf of Aden, is protected by the United Nations cultural agency UNESCO as a world heritage site, meaning that even the Yemeni government is not allowed to interfere in the natural habitats and places of natural beauty in the area

Saudi Arabia has deployed troops to Yemen’s Socotra amid anger over the UAE’s military build-up on the island as rivalry grows between the two allies

He said that Saudis, Emiratis and Yemenis would carry out joint training exercises. This comes as these forces have squared up against each other in the past and clashed in Aden

The Saudi deployment comes after the UAE sent some 300 soldiers, along with tanks and artillery, to Socotra earlier this month in a move that drew the ire of Yemenis

Saudi Arabia and the UAE have been waging a deadly war on Yemen since March 2015 in a bid to shore up Hadi against the Houthi Ansarullah movement