Saudi committee to oversee withdrawal of STC troops from Aden

Move is part of Riyadh Agreement to end dispute between government and Southern Transitional Council

Members of Yemen’s separatist Southern Transitional Council staff a checkpoint while workers disinfect vehicles at the entrance of Mualla, a district of the southern province of Aden, on May 10, 2020.Show more

A Saudi committee is in Yemen to monitor the withdrawal of Southern Transitional Council troops in Aden as part of a peace deal brokered by Riyadh.

“The Saudi Co-ordination and Liaison Team, led by Mohammed Al Rubaie in co-operation with Saudi-led troops in Aden, began to supervise the withdrawal of STC military units from the region,” Mohammed Al Jaber, the Saudi ambassador to Yemen, said on Twitter.

“They will also visit the southern province of Abyan to monitor the withdrawal of government and STC forces to previous locations under the Riyadh Agreement."

The agreement aimed to end a conflict between the STC and the government, which has been in Aden for more than five years after being driven from the capital Sanaa by the Iran-backed Houthi rebels.

The supervision by the Saudi committee, which arrived in Aden last Thursday, aims to strengthen the ceasefire between government and STC troops in Abyan, STC spokesman Nazar Haitham told The National.

"The military commission is supposed to completely stop the fight between the two parties and monitor any violation from any party that may break the ceasefire,” Mr Haitham said.

“The commission will stop the clashes that erupt between the troops and will strictly deal with any violations from both sides."

The government and STC are finalising a power-sharing arrangement that is also part of the agreement.

Yemeni Prime Minister Maeen Saeed has held discussions with a STC negotiating team on ways to form a new government, a source told The National.

“The meeting focused on unifying the national front for ending the Houthi rule, reviving the dire economy and normalising the worsening conditions in the liberated provinces,” the source said.

“It also talked about measures to stop the devaluation of the national currency and the measures needed to control the state’s resources in improving people’s lives."

Yemen's President, Abdrabu Mansur Hadi, recently appointed STC secretary general Ahmed Lamlas as Governor of Aden and Maj Gen Mohammed Al Hamdi as its chief of police.