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Yemen's Southern Transitional Council and its institutions are being dismantled, the group's secretary-general has announced
CAIRO -- Yemen's Southern Transitional Council and its institutions will be dismantled effective today, the group's secretary-general said Friday, after weeks of unrest in southern areas and only a day after its leader fled to the United Arab Emirates.
Abdulrahman Jalal al-Sebaihi made the announcement Friday in a televised address broadcast on Yemen TV. He said a meeting was held to assess the recent “unfortunate events" in the governorates of Hadramout and al-Mahra and after “rejection to all efforts to de-escalate the situation.”
However, in an apparent indication of an internal divide, STC spokesperson Anwar al-Tamimi posted on X that decisions related to the STC can only be made by the council in its entirety and under its president.
“This will be done immediately upon the release of the Southern Transitional Council delegation currently in Riyadh,” he wrote. “The Council will continue its positive and constructive engagement with all political initiatives in a manner that enables the people of the South to determine their future.”
Tensions rose after the STC moved last month into the governorates of Hadramout and al- Mahra and seized an oil-rich region. That pushed out forces affiliated with National Shield Forces, which are aligned with the Saudi-led coalition in fighting the Iran-backed Houthi rebels. However, the National Shield Forces regained control of Hadramout, the presidential palace in Aden, and has taken back camps in al-Mahra.
“Since we did not participate in the decision regarding the military operation against the governorates of Hadramout and al-Mahra, which harmed the unity of the southern ranks and damaged relations with the Saudi-led coalition, the Council’s continued existence no longer serves the purpose for which it was established,” al-Sebaihi said.
He said all of the STC's main agencies and subsidiaries would be dissolved and its offices inside and outside Yemen closed as members work to achieve a “fair southern goal” by preparing for the conference that Saudi Arabia said it will host to discuss issues in the south.
Saudi Defense Minister Khalid bin Salman wrote on X that the southern issue has now been placed on a “real path nurtured by the Kingdom and endorsed by the international community through the Riyadh conference,” which he said will be held to find solutions that meet the aspirations of the people of the south.
Al-Sebaihi’s Friday announcement comes a day after the council’s leader Aidarous al-Zubaidi fled Yemen by boat to Somalia and was later flown to Abu Dhabi, the UAE’s capital. The Presidential Leadership Council said the STC leader was charged with treason after he reportedly declined to travel to Saudi Arabia for meetings on Thursday, and after he deployed STC forces to head to al-Dahle, where his village is located.
The UAE has been a major backer of the council, which sparked a confrontation with Saudi Arabia in recent days, after STC fighters advanced in Hadramout and al-Mahra governorates and appeared to be preparing to secede from Yemen.
The STC was established in April 2017 as an umbrella organization for groups that seek to restore southern Yemen as an independent state, as it was between 1967 and 1990.
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