ADEN, Yemen, Sept 4 (NNN-SABA) – A delegation of the Southern Transitional Council (STC) arrived in Saudi Arabia’s city of Jeddah, to participate in reconciliation talks with the Saudi-backed Yemeni government.
“President of STC, Aidarous Zubaidi, along with a number of southern politicians arrived in Jeddah, in response to Saudi Arabia’s official invitation,” an official of the STC said.
The official said, the talks between Yemen’s government and the STC’s negotiating team will start in the next few days, in Jeddah, under the auspices of Saudi Arabia.
The Saudi calls came, after military units of the STC seized the strategic southern city of Aden, along with all the government’s military bases, following days of street fighting.
More Saudi Arabian forces were deployed in Yemen, in a bid to contain ongoing military escalation between the two warring rivals in different southern areas of the war-torn Arab country.
In the oil-rich Shabwa province, Saudi military units, backed by several armoured vehicles arrived in the city where sporadic fighting is taking place.
Last month, the Saudi-backed Yemeni government set the withdrawal of the forces belonging to the STC from Aden, as a precondition for starting dialogue under the auspices of Saudi Arabia.
The STC is part of the Saudi-led Arab coalition to fight Iran-backed Houthi militias in northern Yemen, in a war that has rekindled old strains between the north and the south of Yemen.– NNN-SABA
