Saudi-UAE delegation in Aden to discuss pullout of separatist

aden — An agreement between the United States and TurA joint Saudi-Emirati military delegation travelled to Aden on Thursday to discuss demands for a pullout of the southern separatists from positions they captured in Yemen’s interim capital, government and separatist sources said.

The delegation’s mission was “to discuss the issue of the withdrawal of southern Security Belt forces from government camps and positions they seized last week”, a source in President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi’s government said.

A source from the Southern Transitional Council (STC) said “we will hold talks with them”, without giving details. The forces backing the STC, which seeks an independent South Yemen, seized the presidential palace in Aden on Saturday.

The clashes saw Security Belt forces seize control of five barracks, the presidential palace and the prime minister’s office.

The Saudi-led coalition condemned the takeover and urged the Security Belt to pull out from positions it captured, while calling for peace talks.

The STC has accepted the call for peace talks and its chairman Aidarus Al Zubaidi said on Sunday that the separatists were ready “to work responsibly with... Saudi Arabia in managing this crisis”.

Without commenting on a possible pullout, it said the STC shared the coalition’s objective of “fighting against Iranian expansionism in the region”. But Yemen’s internationally-recognised government on Wednesday ruled out talks in Saudi Arabia with the separatists, as proposed by Riyadh, until they withdraw from positions they seized in Aden. The Yemeni embassy in Washington, quoting the foreign ministry, has welcomed what it called the Saudi initiative to address the “coup” in Aden. —