Thousands turn out to support the largest separatist organization in Yemen
Thousands of people demonstrated in the southern Yemeni city of Aden on Saturday in favor of the Southern Transitional Council, the country’s principal separatist organization, which disputed that it was preparing to dissolve.
According to a Reuters witness, some people screamed “southerner, raise your voice, independence or death” while others displayed pictures of STC leader Aidarous al-Zubaidi, who has left the nation.
Tensions with Saudi Arabia, another Gulf state, increased when the STC, a group supported by the United Arab Emirates, took control of portions of southern and eastern Yemen in December.
The parts of southern and eastern Yemen that the STC had conquered have mostly been recaptured by fighters supported by Saudi Arabia. In a televised announcement on Saturday, Rashad al-Alimi, the head of the Saudi-backed Presidential Council, declared that they had taken control of all the disputed cities.
On Friday, Saudi-backed organizations urged people not to take to the streets, but they did.
“We have taken to the streets again… No one can silence us… Not Saudi Arabia, nor any other party or country,” a single guy told Reuters.
Another stated: “This large public gathering is a powerful message and a popular referendum in the south for the Southern Transitional Council.”
The competing, Saudi-backed government’s military declared it would “strike firmly and decisively against anyone who seeks to tamper with security or disrupt public order,” but they did not mention the demonstrations.
The UAE and Saudi Arabia’s tensions
In Yemen’s civil conflict, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates had previously fought alongside one another in a coalition against Iran-backed Houthis. However, the STC developments revealed their antagonism and highlighted significant disagreements on a variety of Middle Eastern problems, from oil production to geopolitics.
Earlier this week, an STC delegation traveled to the Saudi capital, Riyadh, for negotiations that Zubaidi, the STC’s chairman, did not attend. The UAE was accused by the Saudi-led coalition of aiding his escape on an aircraft that was traced to an Abu Dhabi military airport.
One of the group’s members announced the STC’s decision to disband in a statement aired on Saudi official television on Friday.
However, the STC declared the declaration “null and void” after holding a “extraordinary meeting” in Riyadh, claiming it was made “under coercion and pressure” in a statement released on Saturday.
Additionally, the group said that its members in Riyadh were being “forced to issue statements” after being jailed.
The STC cautioned against any attempts to target the group’s “peaceful activities” while restating calls for large-scale rallies in southern cities on Saturday.
Citing security concerns, Aden’s authorities, who support Yemen’s Saudi-backed government, issued an official decree seen by Reuters on Friday prohibiting protests in the southern city.
