Historic moment
Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman witnessed the signing of a power-sharing deal between the Yemeni government and the Southern Transitional Council in Riyadh yesterday.
The agreement was signed by Yemeni President Abdrabu Mansur Hadi and Gen Aidrous Al Zoubaidi, the leader of the Southern Transitional Council.
“Signing the agreement, which is the fruit of long and relentless efforts exerted by our brothers in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, will be a turning point in the battle against the Houthi militia and a new stage towards strengthening relations between the Arab Coalition and the STC,” said the spokesman for STC, Nizar Haitham.
On announcing the deal, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said the Riyadh agreement is a step towards a political solution to end the protracted war which has raged since 2015.
An STC source said that the signing ceremony was attended by the United Nations special envoy to Yemen, Martin Griffiths, and various ambassadors.
The Yemeni government welcomed the agreement.
The Riyadh agreement includes 50 per cent STC representation in the government, which is supposed to be formed in a few days after the signing ceremony.
It also establishes the STC as an official partner of the Arab Coalition and gives it an effective role within the tripartite monitoring committee, which will be in charge of overseeing the agreement.
“Under the deal, the Yemeni prime minister will return to Aden [from Saudi Arabia] to reactivate state institutions, and STC-allied forces will be placed under the government’s defence and interior ministries,” the source said.
“All army divisions will be withdrawn from the main cities within two weeks after signing the deal, while other security forces under the government will remain.”
Saleh Al Homaidi, a deputy in Yemen’s Ministry of Information, said the agreement was a road map for Yemen’s future. “All the parties are winners with the agreement, and the only loser is the Houthis,” Mr Al Homaidi said.
Yemeni Minister of Information Muammar Al Eryani praised Riyadh’s role in reaching a deal.
“We highly appreciate the relentless efforts of our brothers in KSA to accomplish the agreement and work to unite the Yemenis against challenges, especially the Iranian threat and its proxy Houthis,” he wrote on Twitter.
The announcement came after an extraordinary meeting of the Cabinet on Monday led by Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalik Saeed.
Signing the agreement, which is the fruit of efforts by our brothers in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, will be a turning point against the Houthis NIZAR HAITHAM STC spokesman