The nephew of President Ali Abdullah Saleh: Secularism is the only solution in Yemen.

Arabian Sea - Exclusive

خاص_ Yemen Brigadier General Yahya Muhammad Abdullah Saleh, the nephew of the late Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, said that Yemeni unity is "a historical achievement that will last forever," noting that all the people of Yemen and the national forces struggled to achieve it, and that many of those who called for secession in previous periods have now returned to believing in unity after realizing that it is the only way to save the country from its accumulated crises. He also stated in a podcast conducted by journalist Mahmoud Al-Atmi that some political parties - in an implicit reference to Ali Salem Al-Beidh and his companions - tried to blackmail the rest of the components by claiming that they were the only ones responsible for achieving unity, claims that he said later undermined national trust. **Post-2011: A Coup, Not a Revolution** Commenting on the events of 2011, Yahya Muhammad Saleh described what happened as "not a revolution but an armed coup against the state," stressing that those events brought down state institutions and pushed Yemen towards chaos, noting that the military institution at the time did not maintain its cohesion, but was "stabbed in the back" - as he put it - by Major General Ali Mohsen Al-Ahmar, who he said was involved in the killing of demonstrators in Friday of Dignity. Yahya Saleh accused the Joint Meeting Parties at the time of not looking for any political solution, but rather raising the ceiling of demands "until the state flew away from everyone." **Presidential Mosque Bombing: A Premeditated Terrorist Crime** Yahya Saleh revealed, for the first time with such clarity, dangerous details about the bombing of the Dar Al-Riyasah Mosque on June 3, 2011, confirming that it was a "purely terrorist" act according to the Security Council's classification, and that the goal was not only to assassinate President Ali Abdullah Saleh and his companions, but also to "bring down the state with all its symbols and legitimacy." He added: "We were in the Central Security, and I was surprised by the explosion... I rushed to the hospital and found President Saleh and all the leaders in critical condition, and I issued a directive to arm the forces in preparation for any emergency, but President Saleh himself ordered not to escalate and stop any military reaction." Yahya Saleh explicitly accused both Hamid al-Ahmar and Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar of being involved in this crime, saying: "All those who planned, financed, and executed are known to us, and a number of the accused have been arrested, but the Houthi group later released some of them." In an allusion to the fact that the case is still open, Saleh asked: "Where are those who were arrested? What is their fate?", pointing out that Sheikh Hassan Abkar knows the whole truth. **His Position on the Houthis** Regarding his position on the Houthi group, Yahya Muhammad Saleh said: "The Ali Abdullah Saleh regime was the first to wage war against the Houthis, and therefore I personally was and still am against them from the first moment," stressing that the Houthi project does not represent the state and does not express the aspirations of the Yemenis. **Secularism as an Option for a Civil State** In a political proposal that is unusual in the Yemeni scene, Yahya Muhammad Saleh called for a secular civil state, stressing that it is "the best solution for governing Yemen," because - as he put it - it "neutralizes religious and political currents and puts the interest of the nation and the citizen above all considerations." He said: "No religious movement can rule Yemen, because every movement believes that it is right and others are wrong, and this leads us to an endless conflict. We need a secular form of government that suits Yemen and its circumstances, and grants everyone equal rights under a state of law and institutions." **Restoring Yemen is a Priority Before Talking About the Form of the State** At the end of his speech, Yahya Muhammad Saleh stressed that the priority today is not to determine the form of the future state, but to "restore Yemen from the hands of the Houthis first," saying: "There is no point in any political discussion about the regime and the constitution when we do not own our land or our sovereignty. Restoring the state first, then we will discuss all the details." **Palestinian Passport from Arafat** Yahya Saleh revealed that he has a Palestinian passport, which was given to him by the late leader Yasser Arafat, in expression of the close historical relationship between the Yemeni and Palestinian peoples.