British officials have reportedly met with authorities from Yemen’s Saudi-backed Presidential Leadership Council (PLC) to deploy more troops and reinforcements to the southeastern oil-rich province of Shabwah.
The Arabic-language al-Khabar al-Yemeni website reported on Monday that outgoing British Ambassador to Yemen Richard Oppenheim and a number of the embassy staff met via a video link with Shabwah governor, Awad bin al-Wazir al-Awlaki.
The report added that the two sides held talks on beefing up the presence of British troops in the eastern parts of Yemen.
It further cited informed sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, as saying that the British ambassador claimed that the deployment of British forces in those regions would help the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and its mercenaries to establish security and stability in Shabwah province.
British special forces have already been deployed to Yemen’s oil-rich eastern Hadhramaut province, the report said.
