Saudi, Qatar Seek to Recruit Algeria in Yemen

Local Editor

Saudi Arabian and Qatari army chiefs have met with their Algerian counterpart, asking Algiers to send its servicemen to Yemen, where Riyadh has been leading an unbridled military campaign since March 2015.

Earlier in October, the Saudi and Qatari top brass Abderrahmane Ben Salah al-Baniane and Ghanem Ben Chahin al-Ghanem met with Chief of Staff of the Algerian Army General Ahmed Gaïd-Salah, the Middle East Eye news portal reported on Thursday, citing an unnamed Algerian diplomat.

Algiers, who had last year turned down a request to join the war and offered only as far as logistical support, likewise refused the offer in line with its policy of non-interventionism.

"Algiers responded that it would consider the proposal, but for the time being, the general feeling is one of refusal," said the diplomatic source.

The report said the two military officials, who had travelled to the North African country with large delegations in attendance, asked Algiers to become part of a Yemen-based "peacekeeping force."

"Saudi Arabia wants to bring an end to the war and implement a peacekeeping force from various countries, who are trusted by Riyadh and Doha," the diplomat continued.

Riyadh has come under international opprobrium for the sheer size of the casualties from the war it has launched in support of Yemen's former president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, who has resigned and fled to the Saudi capital.

The offensive had so far martyred 10,000 amid countless reports suggesting deliberate and indiscriminate targeting of civilian infrastructure by Saudi aircraft and mercenaries.

Observers said the warfare has cost the kingdom so much in terms of financial and political capital that it seeks to diminish its own role while enlisting the services of allies to gradually fill in its shoes.

So far, Riyadh had once tried and failed to bring in Pakistani forces, but Islamabad said it would only partake if Yemeni forces target Muslim holy sites inside Saudi Arabia.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team