Aden: Yemen’s government officials have started indirect talks with Southern Transitional Council (STC) forces in the Saudi Red Sea city of Jeddah to end fighting in Aden and other southern provinces, a Yemeni official said on Wednesday.
A senior Emirati official said earlier that the Gulf state was confident that the Jeddah meeting will succeed in uniting the two sides against what he called the “Houthi coup”.
“We look forward with confidence and optimism to the success of the Jeddah meeting between the brotherly government of Yemen and the Southern Transitional Council,” UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Anwar Gargash tweeted.
“The priority is in unifying the ranks against the Al Houthi coup and confronting it,” he added, thanking Saudi Arabia for leading the coalition politically and militarily with “care and skill”.
Tensions have been high between STC forces and the Yemeni government in the southern Yemeni provinces.
On Thursday, STC forces overran the city, and allied Security Belt forces, carried out anti-Al Qaida operations over the weekend.
“The coalition is very concerned with terrorists, including AQAP (Al Qaida) and Daesh, taking advantage of current escalation in the South. The UAE as part of Coalition will continue to act firmly against the re-emergence of terror groups in Yemen,” he tweeted.
The UAE is a key member of a Saudi-led coaliton fighting in Yemen in order to restore the internationally-recognised government of Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi.