Yemeni government, Southern Transitional Council resume talks in Riyadh to resolve conflict

Representatives of the Yemeni government and the Southern Transitional Council met in the Saudi capital on Thursday to discuss the implementation of an agreement to resolve their differences in a peaceful manner.

Both sides had earlier signed what is known as the Riyadh Initiative, which obliges all parties to accept political solutions and end the violence that erupted in 2019.

The two parties have agreed to stop all forms of escalation, be it political, military, security, economic, social and media.

However, Saudi Arabia noted that recent acts by the Southern Transitional Council (STC), including political and media escalation and political and military appointments, were inconsistent with what was agreed upon between the two parties.

The Kingdom reminded the two sides about the urgency of sticking to the agreement in order to unite the various segments of the Yemeni society to prevent bloodshed and to be able to achieve security and stability.

During the latest meeting, Saudi Arabia reiterated its continued support for the Yemeni government led by President Abed Rabbu Mansur Hadi.

The Southern Transitional Council had been fighting alongside Hadi’s legitimate government since 2015 against the Iran-backed Houthi militia, which seized the capital Sanaa and some parts of Yemen in a coup launched in 2014.

In late 2019, however, the pro-independence STC purged the Hadi government from Aden, its temporary seat of power, following fierce clashes.

To help defuse the tension, Saudi Arabia helped broker a power-sharing agreement between the two sides.