...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of...
's internationally recognized government has said that the council he was chosen to lead will work to end the country's grinding, eight-year civil war.
In his first televised address, Rashad al-Alimi thanked his government's backers —Soddy Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face...
and the United Arab Emirates — which have been helping Yemeni government forces fight the Iran-backed Iran's Houthi sock puppets
...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The legitimate Yemeni government has accused the them of having ties to the Iranian government. Honest they did. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is
God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the JewsThey like shooting off... ummm... missiles that they would have us believe they make at home in their basements. On the plus side, they did murder Ali Abdullah Saleh, which was the only way the country was ever going to be rid of him...
rebels for years.
Al-Alimi's speech comes as both sides trade accusations of breaking the week-old internationally brokered cease-fire that was ushered in at the start of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. The truce is supposed to last two months but many similar efforts in Yemen's conflict have floundered in the past.
On Thursday, Yemen's exiled president Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi stepped aside in a move likely orchestrated in Riyadh, and transferred his powers to the presidential council lead by al-Alimi.
"This is a council of peace, but it is also a council of defense and strength," he said.
The country's new head of government made no mention of any compromise with the Houthis. He thanked the U.N. and U.S. envoys to Yemen for their efforts but also praised all who attempted to "take back the country and its institutions."
On Friday, both sides said they had documented some 80 violations of the cease-fire in just the past day, in reports published on their official media. The United Nations
...the Oyster Bay money pit...
' envoy to Yemen Hans Grundberg on Wednesday expressed concerns about reports of violations of the truce.