The Yemeni President appoints an ambassador to Qatar for the first time in six years

“Despite attempts to bolster security, stability, and legitimacy in Yemen, the current regime is entrenched by the presence of the Brotherhood allied with the Houthi militia and the international organization against Yemen”.

Yemeni President Abdrabbo Mansour Hadi issued a presidential decree appointing Rajeh Badi as his country’s ambassador to Qatar nearly five years after the withdrawal of the Yemeni ambassador from Doha, which caused huge international outrage because Badi is a Muslim Brotherhood with controversial relations.

Yemen’s official news agency Saba said: Presidential Decree No. 12 of 2021 was issued today, article 1 of which stipulated the appointment of Rajeh Hussein Farhan Badi as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the State of Qatar.

This is the first time the Yemeni government has appointed an ambassador to Doha since it decided, along with Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain, to sever ties with Qatar over the Gulf crisis in June 2017. The severance ended on January 5th during the Arab League summit.

Rajeh Badi has been the official spokesperson for the Yemeni government since February 2014, but his involvement with the Brotherhood was proven by a number of suspicions, which raises the controversy over his selection for the position of Yemen’s ambassador to Qatar, which indicates other hidden relationships, according to Yemenis and activists.

Yemenis condemned the decision to appoint Rajeh Badi as ambassador to Qatar after he was expelled from Turkey; they speculated that it was meant to cover up his expulsion from Ankara.

They also said that Badi was a “roving” ambassador of “bad intentions” to the Yemeni Congregation for Reform, the Muslim Brotherhood’s branch in Yemen, and that the decision was likely to have the hallmarks of Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar.

Yemeni activists believe that this decision includes many political considerations, given the ambassador’s background and the timing of his appointment. Badi’s appointment at this time is suspect, especially as the party faces major challenges in light of the rising wave of popular rejection of it in several provinces, most notably Shabwah province, and its involvement in supporting the Houthis and evacuating areas to militias.

The appointment of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Rajeh Badi reflects the extent to which the Brotherhood’s Islah party controls the legitimate authority in Yemen and the decisions of President Hadi, they said.