Yemeni southern separatists in Riyadh announce disputed disbanding of STC | News

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.

In a post on X, al-Tamimi said decisions related to the STC could 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.”

Separately, the STC’s National Assembly issued a statement urging supporters to take part in demonstrations planned for Saturday in the Yemeni cities of Aden and Mukalla, rejecting what it described as “partial or evasive solutions” to the southern cause.

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 “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 the military offensive and took over the oil-rich regions of Hadramout and al-Mahra, thereby expanding its control across southern Yemen, he said.

Saudi Defence Minister Khalid bin Salman welcomed the announcement on the dissolution of the STC, describing it as a “courageous step” towards safeguarding the future of the southern issue, and said the move would help pave the way for inclusive southern dialogue under Saudi sponsorship, according to remarks posted on X.

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 they 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 Saudi Arabia and the UAE, former allies in a war with the Iran-backed Yemeni Houthi group, which controls the capital Sanaa and much of the north of Yemen.

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

The STC was established in April 2017 as an umbrella organisation for groups that seek to restore southern Yemen as an independent state, as it was between 1967 and 1990.