Yemen: Who Will Handle Yemen's Portfolio After Prince Nayef's Death?

Death is always sad news, but that wasn't the overall reaction of many Yemenis upon hearing the news of the death of Saudi Crown Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.

Prince Nayef was the person in charge of the “Yemen portfolio” after the death of Crown Prince Sultan and he is reported to have handled it with a powerful fist. He is alleged to have moved Al-Qaeda from Saudi Arabia to Yemen and has been quoted in Wikilieaks saying that Yemen is a failed state:

@wikileaks: ‪#KSA‬ Prince Nayef to US Embassy : “Yemen is a failed state that is very, very, extremely dangerous.” http://bit.ly/o3uM3O ‪#Yemen

Genny Hill, associate Fellow at Chatham House who runs the Yemen Forum, pointed out:

@ginnyUK: I suspect that Crown Prince Nayef was Ali Mohsin's strongest backer in Riyadh ‪#Yemen

Following are some of the reactions from Yemen.

Atiaf Alwazir tweeted:

@WomanfromYemen: ‪#Saudi‬ Arabia's Crown Prince Nayef died – this will have lots of implications in ‪#Saudi‬ & neighboring ‪#Yemen‬ & ‪#Bahrain‬ http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jun…

Brooj Alamary added [ar]:

@BroojAA: اعزعملاء المملكة من مشائخ وقيادات عسكرية وبائعين اراضينا ومتاجرين يأعراضنا بوفاة ولي العهد ورب نعمتهم ومشبع جوعهم .. جزع نائف وبقي المرتزقة
I pay my condolences to the Saudi agents, the Sheikhs and military leaders who sold our lands and made business with our honor for the death of the crown prince, the sponsor of their grace and appeaser of their hunger.. Nayef left and the mercenaries remain.

She added:

@BroojAA: من اليمن للبحرين موت نايف بالنسبة لهم لايشبه الحزن …..ليش يا ولي العهد ؟؟؟
From Yemen to Bahrain the death of Nayef to them does not look like sadness …..Why crown prince?

Amr Badr had a stronger reaction which he tweeted:

@Amar_Bdr: أبرز إنجازات الأمير نايف .. نقل تنظيم القاعدة من السعودية الى اليمن … الله لا رحمه . ‎‫#اليمن‬ ‎‫#السعودية‬ ‎‫#نايف‬
Prince Nayef achievements..moving Al-Qaeda from Saudi Arabia to Yemen .. May God not have mercy on him

Mai Saleh sarcastically noted:

@A4Mai: يقولون اذكروا محاسن موتاكم..وأنا تعبت من البحث عن محاسن الأمير نايف تجاه ‎‫#اليمن‬ وما لقيت..يا الله عموماً الله يرحمه
They say remember the goodness of your deceased .. and I got tired looking for any goodness of Prince Nayef towards Yemen.. anyhow may God forgive him

Sam Waddah tweeted:

@SamWaddah: I dun feel happy 4 Nayef's death!I never feel happy 4 ANYONE's death!However, I feel more sad 4 children who die in ‪#Syria‬ than I do 4 Nayef

Ghanem M tweeted:

‏@Ghanem_M: يجرى الان التشاور مع الرئيس ‎‫#هادي‬ حول اعلان يوم حداد في ‎‫#اليمن‬ على وفاة ولي العهد السعودي الامير نايف بن عبدالعزيز ‎‪#Yemen‬
Consultation are underway with (President) Hadi about announcing a day of mourning in Nayef for the death of crown prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz

And finally a parody account for former President Saleh sarcastically referring to the special committee tweeted:

‏@PresidentSalih: ياترى هل ستصرف لنا اللجنه الخاصه بدل سفر علشان نروح نعزي :D ‎‪#Yemen‬
I wonder if the special committee will pay us for our travel expenses so we can pay our condolences

Prince Nayef is reported to be succeeded by Prince Salman, who will be the new crown prince, and Prince Ahmed bin Abdulaziz will fill his role as minister of interior. Yemenis, however, wonder who will handle the Yemen portfolio and what implications will that have on the country.

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