Saudi Arabia Welcomes Proposal for Inclusive Summit on Southern Yemen
The Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that Riyadh welcomes the request made by Rashad al-Alimi, Chairman of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council, to host a meeting involving all conflicting parties aimed at finding appropriate solutions for the situation in southern Yemen.
This stance comes as Aidrous al-Zubaidi, head of the Southern Transitional Council backed by the United Arab Emirates, announced on Friday the start of a political process to pursue the independence of southern Yemen; a move that has once again highlighted the political and field divisions in the region.
Simultaneously, forces affiliated with Yemen’s self-declared government have advanced in Hadramaut province and declared their intention to take control of all military bases there, raising concerns about the escalation of military tensions.
In this context, clashes have been reported between the “Homeland’s Shield” forces loyal to the self-declared government and Southern Transitional Council forces in the Al-Khash’ah camp in Wadi Hadramaut. Additionally, coalition warplanes supporting the self-declared government targeted the Transitional Council positions around this camp.
These developments intensified after Rashad al-Alimi appointed the Hadramaut governor as the commander-in-chief of the Homeland’s Shield forces in the province; a decision opposed by the Southern Transitional Council, which has refused to withdraw its forces from Hadramaut.
