A pro-UAE Yemeni official says southern forces will not accept unification under the Saudi-led coalition’s command, highlighting deep regional rifts.
DUBAI: A pro-UAE Yemeni official said southern forces, including Emirati-backed separatists, would not agree to unite under the command of a Saudi-led coalition.
Faraj Al-Bahsani, a member of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council, dismissed the unification plan announced by the council’s head, Rashad al-Alimi.
“It will be difficult to unify forces, as announced by Rashad al-Alimi, under one banner led by the coalition,” Bahsani told AFP in an interview.
“The southern forces, whether affiliated with the Southern Transitional Council, the forces in Hadramawt, or any other force, will not accept this.”
His remarks follow the Saudi-led coalition’s recapture of two provinces briefly seized by the Southern Transitional Council (STC) last month.
Bahsani, who is also vice president of the STC, lives in the United Arab Emirates where he is receiving medical treatment.
He denied allegations that the UAE was preventing him from travelling to Riyadh for talks.
Saudi Arabia has said it will host talks for Yemen’s southern groups at the request of the internationally recognised government.
A high-level STC delegation that travelled to Riyadh for discussions is allegedly being detained there, according to the separatist group.
Bahsani called for the proposed conference to be held outside Saudi Arabia to avoid pressure on participants.
“I call on Saudi Arabia to give southerners an opportunity to meet outside Saudi Arabia, away from the pressures that will be exerted on the participants if it is held in Riyadh,” he said.
On Friday, the detained STC delegation in Riyadh announced the council’s dissolution, a move dismissed by UAE-based officials as being made under duress.
Bahsani warned that unilaterally dissolving the STC could create a dangerous power vacuum.
“The Southern Transitional Council united the south… Declaring its dissolution from Riyadh undermines all these efforts and creates a vacuum that will be filled by extremist forces,” he said.
Thousands rallied in Aden on Saturday in support of the separatists and their leader Aidarous Al-Zubaidi.
Some protesters chanted slogans against Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler Mohammed bin Salman and Presidential Leadership Council head Alimi.
“Escalating popular anger makes it difficult –- if not impossible –- for some of the current leaders to return to Aden,” Bahsani said.
