S. Arabia Cuts Budget for Pro-Hadi Officials, Militants

RNA - Saudi Arabia stopped providing Mansour Hadi, the fugitive Yemeni president, his cabinet and militia supporting him with financial aid and advantages.

News ID: 424106

Date: 05 October 2016 - 20:32

RNA - According to al-Akhbar newspaper, the development came only a few weeks after Saudi Arabia and the UAE said they would back the decision of the Yemen Central Bank to relocate its offices from Sana'a to Aden provided that Ahmad Abid Bin Dagar's cabinet which was supported by the Saudis returns to Aden to rule Yemen.

Riyadh also cut off all its financial aids and payments to the Yemeni figures and politicians who have long supported the Saudi-led coalition, and now even avoids issuing entry visas for hundreds of Yemeni workers who have supported the Saudi-backed fugitive president and go to Saudi Arabia in pursuit of a job.

Earlier today, the Rai al-Youm newspaper also reported that Saudi King Salman bin Abdolaziz has cut the financial aid and advantages of many princes over Riyadh's severe budget deficit.

The London-based daily quoted informed sources as saying on Wednesday that King Salman has cancelled all financial advantages of the Saudi princes and is merely paying them their monthly salaries.

According to the source, King Salman may also review the salary of those wealthy princes who have accumulated millions of dollars.

Earlier, Saudi Arabia had started decreasing the salaries of ministers and high-ranking officials and stopping investment projects given the low oil prices, high expenses of Riyadh's war against Yemen and its support for the extremist and terrorist groups in Syria.

A well-known source in the royal family disclosed in December that the Riyadh government's invasion of Yemen has cost the kingdom tens of billions of dollars and the lives of over 2,000 Saudi soldiers killed in combat with Yemeni army and popular forces over the past 9 months.

"Saudi Arabia has spent over 200 billion Saudi rials (over $60 billion) for its aggression against Yemen in the past nine months," Mujtahid wrote in his latest tweets.

Mujtahid is a Saudi political activist who is believed to be a member of or have a well-connected source in the royal family.

"The daily cost of the war for Saudi Arabia is 750 million Saudi rials (over $200 million) which is spent on purchasing bullets and for logistics," Mujtahid said.

847/940