The United Arab Emirates' sudden decision to withdraw some of its forces from Yemen is an attempt to decorate its picture, Yemeni military officials and politicians have said, after calls were voiced for ending its role in the Arab coalition.
OnFriday, Reuters reported that the UAE had scaled down its troops and ordnance positioned in the Yemeni port city of Aden and Red Sea coastal areas, in preparation for fortifying its internal defense against any potential threats, according to western diplomats.
In the few last days, 20 tankers and armored vehicles(brought by the UAE into Aden in 2015)wereshipped at Aden port to unknown direction, Yemeni media corroborated.
This step is not a redeployment of Emirati forces in Yemen, UAE senior official told Reuters.
The UAE is a key partner in the Saudi-led Arab coalition that intervened militarily in Yemen in March 2015to reinstall the government of President Hadi.
By its "tactic", the gulf state is also seeking to leave the door widely open for its other tools in Yemen, such as the Southern Transitional Council (STC), Security Belt and Elite forces, a Yemeni official told Al-Jazeera net anonymously.
Emirati soldiers and officers in Aden are replaced every six months, said a Yemeni military expert, but the "recent move is unlikely as part of this arrangement."
The situation in Aden, seat of Yemeni legitimate government, is expected to explode in the coming days, Ali al-Dhahab added citing the tension between official forces and the UAE-backed STC and the arrangements for President Hadi to return to the port city.
Aden is likely to see violence fighting, and this is why the UAE chose to pull out its troops, in fear they could be involved in any clashes or vulnerable to avenge by any party, he argued.
The expert ruled out any relation between the pullout and current US-Iran tension in the region, since most of the UAE limited forces were recently recruited and have no enough experience.
But Adnan Hashim, Yemeni researcher, sees that "Abu Dhabi seems to suffer problemspertaining its reputation that has been deeply hurt following the war in Yemen."
The war has affected other emirates economically and politically, so Abu Dhabi is under great internal pressures to stop its foreign policy in the region, Dhahab added.
Dubai ruler, Sheikh Mohamed bin Rashid, has repeatedly talked about "impact of rulers' bad decisions on economy, at time other emirates seem to be upset as most of the Yemen war UAE deaths are from their people."
These developments have coincided with Saudi deployment of new reinforcements into Aden, Yemeni informed sources told Al-Jazeera net.
Yemen has been racked by a 4-year bloody conflictbetween the internationally-recognized Yemeni government's forces, backed by a Saudi-led coalition, and the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels who ousted the government in 2014.
