Dubai: Yemen’s Saudi-backed government and Southern Transitional Council (STC) forecs are expected on Thursday to announce a deal to end a power struggle in the southern port of Aden, officials said.
The STC is nominally allied to the internationally-recognised government of President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi, but the two sides fell out in August, with STC forces seizing control of Aden.
Saudi Arabia has hosted indirect talks between them to rebuild the coalition fighting against the Iran-aligned Al Houthi movement that expelled Hadi’s government from the capital Sana’a five years ago.
Fighting between Yemeni government forces and the STC had opened a new front in the multi-faceted war and complicated United Nations peace efforts.
Riyadh has been trying to refocus the coalition on fighting Al Houthis on its border.
Al Houthis have repeatedly launched missiles and drone strikes against Saudi cities during the conflict, widely seen as a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
Two officials in Hadi’s government told Reuters the pact to end the Aden standoff would be signed in Riyadh on Thursday.
STC leader Aidarous Al Zubaidi, who has been involved in the month-long talks in the Red Sea city of Jeddah, headed to Riyadh on Wednesday, according to a post on his Twitter account.
The deal calls for a government reshuffle to include STC and the restructuring of armed forces under Saudi supervision, they said.
Saudi forces took control of Aden last week.
