The Saudi-led coalition on Monday (April 27th) rejected the separatists' declaration of autonomy in southern Yemen and demanded "an end to any escalating action" in the Yemeni conflict.

The Southern Transitional Council (STC) proclaimed autonomy for southern Yemen on Sunday, accusing the government of not having fulfilled its obligations and of "conspiring" against the cause of this region of the country. This approach further complicates the Yemeni conflict between the coalition and the internationally recognized government against the Houthi rebels who control much of the North.

"We stress the need to restore conditions to their previous state in the temporary capital Aden," the coalition said, according to tweets from the official Saudi news agency.

"Following the surprising announcement of the state of emergency by the Southern Transition Council, we once again insist on the need to quickly implement the Riyadh agreement," she added.

Supported by the United Arab Emirates, a key partner in the coalition, the separatists signed a power-sharing agreement in Riyadh last November, which allowed to stifle a battle - called "civil war in civil war" - for the South who had seen them take control in August of Aden, the second city of the country.

For its part, the coalition said it had taken and will continue to take "practical and systematic measures to implement the Riyadh agreement between the parties, in order to unify the Yemeni ranks, restore the institutions of the 'State and combat the scourge of terrorism'.

"Go back to the agreement"

"The coalition demands an end to all escalation and calls on the participating parties to return to the agreement," she added.

The Riyadh Pact on Power Sharing for the South had been hailed as preventing the country's complete breakup, but in the absence of implementation, observers declared it lapsed.

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Residents of Aden reported large deployments of STC forces in the city on Sunday. And a separatist source told AFP that they had set up checkpoints "at all government facilities, including the central bank and the port of Aden".

Hussam Radman, a researcher at the Center for Strategic Studies in Sanaa, assured that the separatists already controlled the army and security in Aden, where they enjoy popular support.

"But with this declaration, he [the STC] will become responsible for the administrative part in the provisional capital which has experienced an unprecedented decline in recent times" in the provision of services and economic performance, he told AFP.

The main armed confrontation in Yemen is between the Houthi rebels, supported by Iran and who notably control the north of the country, including the capital Sanaa, with government forces, militarily supported by a coalition led by Saudi Arabia.

But the loyalist camp is also the scene of deep divisions, between the government in exile in Aden and a separatist movement, the Southern Transition Council.

With AFP

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