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Exiled Yemeni President Hadi leaves Saudi to set up new capital in Aden

WHILE Houthi forces still hold the Yemeni capital of Sana'a, ousted President d-Rabbu Mansour Hadi has returned from Saudi Arabian exile and set up his tactical capital in the Port of Aden.

A team of ministers, including the prime minister, returned the week before to establish the bones of an interim administration, reports maritime security company MAST (Singapore).

The port in Aden remains "fairly safe" under the control of Saudi-backed coalition forces arrayed against Iranian-backed Houthi forces. There have been no further reports of the Saudi coalition bombing Hodeidah.

In Libya, United Nations peace brokers in Libya set October 20 as a new deadline for Libyan factions to sign a power sharing agreement to form a Unity Government, having allowed a deadline pass without a signature.

"As the chaos continues Libya抯 oil infrastructure is collapsing. The Arabian Gulf Oil Company (AGOCO) has had its budget cut significantly," said Ben Stewart, general manager of MAST a British maritime security company.

"AGOCO, a subsidiary of the National Oil Company (NOC), was responsible for 25 per cent of Libya's oil production. The budget cut will affect salaries, the provision of spares, the payment of suppliers and their oil output," he said.

Separately, a survey of Somalis imprisoned for piracy has been conducted by the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and Ocean's Beyond Piracy (OBP) with findings suggesting the main reason for piracy was at poor economy.

Illegal fishing was another factor which helped rationalise their reasoning. The naval patrols combined with the threat of prison and the use of armed guards on board vessels were cited as the deterrents and fears of continuing with piracy.

Foreign fishermen take three times the amount of fish than the local population. There has been discussion in the past that naval forces might aid in policing fishing rights in Somalia's waters.