Yemen’s main southern separatists to disband, senior STC official says

The STC, which Saudi Arabia says is backed by the UAE, launched an offensive against Yemeni gov’t troops in December.

Yemen’s main southern separatists ‍have decided to disband following talks in Saudi Arabia, the secretary-general of the organisation has said, although the announcement was dismissed by its spokesman who called it “ridiculous”.

The Southern Transitional Council (STC) Secretary-General Abdulrahman Jalal al-Subaihi said in a broadcast on Yemeni television on Friday that the dissolution of the group was taken to preserve peace and security in the south and in neighbouring countries.

He praised “the measures taken by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the solutions it has provided that meet the needs of the people of the South”.

However, STC spokesman Anwar al-Tamimi, who is in Abu Dhabi, rejected the announcement coming out of Saudi Arabia.

“This news is ridiculous,” he told the AFP news agency, confirming he remained out of contact with the delegation in Riyadh, indicating a split was emerging within the group.

Tensions between Saudi Arabia and the UAE have grown after the STC, which Riyadh says is backed by Abu Dhabi, launched an offensive against Saudi-backed Yemeni government troops in December.

On Thursday, the Saudi Arabia-led coalition in Yemen said the STC leader Aidarous ‌al-Zubaidi had fled to the UAE via Somaliland after skipping the talks in Riyadh, accusing the UAE of smuggling him out of the country.

The STC’s possible dissolution is a highly “significant political development,” though not hugely surprising, said Al Jazeera’s Hashem Ahelbarra in Doha.

The STC made a “massive miscalculation” last month when it launched a military offensive and took over the oil-rich regions of Hadramout and Al-Mahra, thereby expanding its control across southern Yemen, he said.

Saudi Arabia and the internationally recognised Yemeni government viewed these advances as a “red line” and a threat to national security, launching strikes on two vessels in Mukalla port, which it claimed were carrying UAE-linked weapons shipments to the STC.

In response, the Yemeni government declared a state of emergency and ordered the withdrawal of all UAE forces, leading to a deep rift between former allies Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

Following al-Zubaidi’s departure, “from the Saudi perspective, there’s absolutely no way to maintain the STC” because of its separatist stance.