Leaked audio confirms Brotherhood-Houthi collaboration in Yemen

A leaked recording of Muslim Brotherhood military leader and adviser to the Taiz axis Abdou Farhan al-Mikhlafi revealed a joint Houthi-Brotherhood plan to seize the Bab al-Mandab strait and take control of Mocha port on the Red Sea Coast.

In the recording, Mikhlafi, who is described as the Muslim Brotherhood’s military leader in Taiz governorate, appeared to talk about a plan to take control of the strategic port of Mocha after receiving military support from Turkey under Iranian cover.

Mikhlafi also mocked the performance of the Saudi-led Arab alliance in its battle with the Iran-backed Houthi militias in the recording, noting that the intervention of new regional players – Turkey and Iran — would further complicate the task of the Arab alliance in Yemen.

The release of the recording, which has been shared extensively on social media, coincided with a coordinated media campaign by Houthis and Islamists to denigrate the joint resistance forces on the west coast.

The leaked recording confirmed previous reports by Yemen Details referring to a joint Houthi-Brotherhood plot supported by Turkey and Iran to control Bab al-Mandab.

The new developments further reveal the nature of Turkey’s project in Yemen and the role of the Qatar-backed current within the Yemeni government. Both parties are working against the Riyadh Agreement and attempting to inflame tensions within the anti-Houthi camp.

In recent days, the governorate of Abyan witnessed renewed confrontations between Yemeni Southern Transitional Council (STC) fighters and government forces, despite Saudi Arabia’s announcement of an agreement on a new mechanism to speed up implementation of the Riyadh pact signed between the two sides last November.

The confrontations show the influence of the pro-Qatar current, which rejects the Riyadh pact and is working to create a new military, political and media reality hostile to the Arab alliance, based on a Houthi-Brotherhood rapprochement and backed by Qatar, Turkey and Iran.

Yemeni political observers have long warned about the role of the pro-Qatar current within the Yemeni government.

In their warnings, the observers specify the Muslim Brotherhood group as the backbone of this current and speak of a dangerous expansion of Qatar’s influence in at least four liberated Yemeni governorates, namely Taiz, Shabwa, Al-Mahra and Marib.

To achieve its objectives, the pro-Qatar current reportedly persuaded some government officials to work on discrediting the Arab alliance and questioning its goals in media interviews and statements.

The coalition would also include a number of leaders in the Yemeni government who have been accused of political opportunism, such as Interior Minister Ahmed al-Misri, resigned Transport Minister Saleh al-Jabwani and Deputy Parliament Speaker Abdul Aziz Jabbari, along with a number of advisers who have recently expressed hostility to the Arab alliance and called for rapprochement with Houthi militias.

Observers say Qatari activities in Yemen act as a bridge for Turkey to intervene in the country against the backdrop of a tacit agreement to empower Iran’s proxies in northern Yemen and facilitate Turkish efforts to control southern provinces with the help of Muslim Brotherhood elements that have infiltrated the Yemeni government.

According to Yemeni sources, Ankara recently succeeded in recruiting Yemeni political figures from Al Islah Party as well as others who are loyal to the Muslim Brotherhood and Qatar to take action on the Yemeni political and military scenes.

Among the most prominent of these political figures are tribal sheikh and businessman Hamid al-Ahmar, Nobel Peace Prize winner Tawakkol Karman and Brotherhood leader and member of Al Islah Party’s Shura Council Salah Batees, who has established “Waqf Awais Al-Qarni for Yemen” in Turkey — an institution used as a cover for money laundering by the Muslim Brotherhood and as a channel to deliver Turkish financial support to the group in Yemen.

In addition to leaders in the Yemeni branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, the Turkish project relies on Qatari funds and the recruitment of a number of Yemeni politicians, such as Jabwani, whose visit to Turkey stirred controversy after he signed an agreement with the Turkish government in the field of maritime transport and the management of ports and airports.

Among other Yemeni politicians to be recruited is member of the Yemeni Shura Council Ali al-Bujairi, who has appeared in many videos appealing for Turkey to intervene in Yemen. One of the videos even shows a meeting in Turkey in which Yemeni politicians and academics call on Ankara to intervene in Yemen.

Dozens of journalists and activists known to be affiliated with Al Islah Party in Yemen have also participated in a systematic media campaign to demand that Turkey intervene in Yemen as it has in Libya.

Calls for Turkish intervention in Yemen have not only been issued by Yemeni Brotherhood figures, but also by other Arab Islamist politicians, such as Kuwaiti Brotherhood member Nasser Al-Duwailah.

Observers believe that Turkish intervention in Libya has encouraged the Muslim Brotherhood and Ankara to more aggressively seek a foothold in the Yemeni conflict.