Yemeni Defense Minister announces ceasefire and Saudi Arabia calls for dialogue

Yemeni Defense Minister Lt. Gen. Mohammed al-Maqdisi urged all military units to cease fire in the provinces of Aden, Abyan and Shabwa, after days of clashes with the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council, amid calls for dialogue.

This came in a tweet to the Yemeni Minister of Information Muammar al-Iryani through his Twitter account, explaining that this comes in response to the call of the leadership of the joint forces in the coalition to support legitimacy.

On Monday, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates called in a joint statement for Yemenis to fully cooperate with the joint committee set up by the coalition leadership to disengage, and to quickly engage in the "Jeddah" dialogue to address the crisis of events in southern Yemen.

The UAE-backed "transitional" forces suffered a setback on Friday after failing to storm the city of Ataq, the center of Shabwa.

Today, government forces continued to control the camps and locations of the UAE-backed forces in the Upper Junction area, the Naqba area, the Habban district and several points in the Merkha area. .

Yemeni Minister of Transport Saleh al-Jibwani announced to Al-Jazeera Net the restoration of the strategic port of Balhaf in Shabwa governorate after the national army arrived in the morning.

The Balhaf gas port is Yemen's largest industrial and investment project, providing revenues of about $ 4 billion a year.

The port was under the control of the UAE-backed Shabwani elite forces, which were blocking the export of oil and gas from it to seize all Yemeni ports, according to observers.

A few weeks ago, security forces took control of most of the state's joints in Aden after four days of fierce battles against government forces in which more than 40 people were killed, including civilians, and 260 wounded, according to local human rights organizations.

Call for dialogue
Meanwhile, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir on Monday called on the warring parties in Yemen to dialogue to overcome internal differences.

Al-Jubeir called in a series of tweets via his Twitter account - everyone to "work together to rid Yemen of the clutches of Iranian influence," as he put it.

He praised the UAE's efforts in exchange for Yemeni accusations of supporting separatist forces, al-Jubeir added, "The coalition, led by the Kingdom, and the efforts of brothers in the UAE to achieve security and stability in Aden, Shabwa and Abyan."

Yemeni authorities, headed by Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi, have refused to talk as long as the separatists do not withdraw from the positions they seized in Aden.

The UAE-backed southern transitional council welcomed Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates' call for a ceasefire and dialogue.

The council said in a statement that "will not stand idly by and will continue to defend its land and its cause, and fortify the south."