Cut-throat competition has pitted Houthi leaders against each other, dividing the ranks of the coup group. Houthi leaders based in Saada province monopolize power over the group’s military, political and security functions.
Divisions, however, grew deeper within the group after the killing of Saleh al-Sammad, the head of the Houthis’ so-called Supreme Political Council.
After Sammad’s death, Mahdi al-Mashat was assigned to replace him as chair of the Council. The appointment, however, failed to contain the spurring competition between Abdulkarim al-Houthi, the coup’s current interior minister, and Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, the head of the former Supreme Revolutionary Committee.
The Committee ran Houthi-controlled areas before it was dissolved and replaced by the Council.
After the call by the United Nations Secretary-General for a ceasefire and united efforts to confront the novel coronavirus, Muhammad Ali al-Houthi emerged to represent the militia in discussions with the UN Special Envoy Martin Griffiths.
Griffiths and Muhammad Ali al-Houthi held several indirect meetings during which the latter delivered what he said was the Houthi plan for a comprehensive solution in Yemen.
He continued to head negotiations until last week when Abdulsalam Fleitah, who also goes by Mohammed Abdulsalsm, returned to the scene.
Fleitah had become one of the main leaderships heading oil trade companies and media companies in Yemen. He is also the head of the board of directors of al-Masirah channel which broadcasts from the southern suburbs of Lebanon’s capital, Beirut.
Fleitah, who is aligned with the Hezbollah organization in Lebanon, held two virtual meetings with the ambassadors of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council.
After the meetings, Fleitah said he discussed political and humanitarian issues in Yemen.
