ADEN: Yemeni Prime Minister Khaled Bahah flew to the devastated port of Aden from Saudi exile on Saturday, two weeks after loyalist forces ousted Houthi rebels from the city, an airport source said.

Bahah became the highest ranking official to return to the southern city since the government announced its liberation in mid-July.

He was followed by officials whose task will be to restore normality and public services to a city battered by four months of ferocious combat.

Bahah, who is also vice president of the internationally recognised government, fled into exile with President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and his team earlier this year when the rebels entered Aden.

Impoverished Yemen has been rocked by fighting between the Houthi rebels and Hadi loyalists, who have received air support from a Saudi-led Arab coalition.

The United Nations says the war has killed nearly 4,000 people, half of them civilians, while 80 per cent of the 21-million population is in need of aid and protection.

On Monday, a humanitarian pause declared by the coalition went into effect but collapsed the next day. An airport source said Bahah flew in on a Saudi military plane.

He promised in an arrival statement that “normal life” would return to a “liberated Aden”.

He later visited several districts and was briefed on damage to the presidential palace, state broadcaster and military headquarters, a security source said.

He was also to visit people wounded in the fighting during his symbolic visit of a few hours, a member of his delegation said.

“Aden is the key to victory” in reconquering the country, the premier’s spokesman Rajeh Badi told Al-Arabiya television, adding that Hadi could also return “at any time”.

Several government officials also arrived in Aden on a separate plane from Saudi Arabia, said Human Rights Minister Ezzedine al-Isbahi.

He said they would supervise work under way to reopen public buildings, including the resumption of broadcasts at state television and radio, and restore services in the battered city.

The interior and transport ministers toured parts of Aden in mid-July during a brief visit to assess the damage.

They also looked at ways to fully reopen the ports and airport to allow the delivery of desperately needed relief supplies.

The head of the Red Crescent in Aden, Ahmed Mansur, said the charity had received food aid from the United Arab Emirates and was able to hand out 20,000 rations to residents of three neighbourhoods.

Yemen depends on imports for most of its supplies, including food, medicine and fuel.

More than 10 million people are struggling to obtain food and water, the UN says.

Published in Dawn, August 2nd, 2015

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