Saudi Arabia called on the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council to abide by the Riyadh agreement after announcing it days before what it called self-management in the southern provinces, while Washington expressed concern about the repercussions of the move taken by the council.
In a statement issued by the Saudi cabinet after its meeting on Tuesday, the kingdom called on the transitional council to cancel any step it took in the governorates of southern Yemen that violates the Riyadh agreement signed between it and the Yemeni government last November.
The Saudi-Emirati coalition called in a statement the day before yesterday, Monday, for the situation to return to its former state in Aden after the transitional council declared a state of emergency, which was described by the Saudi News Agency in surprising way.
In the same statement, the coalition stressed the need to cancel any step that violates the Riyadh agreement, and indicated that it had taken practical steps to implement the agreement.
The United Nations, the European Union, the Arab League and the Gulf Cooperation Council also announced their refusal to declare self-administration in the southern governorates of Yemen, while the Yemeni government held the transitional council responsible for undermining the Riyadh agreement.
But the Transitional Council, which seeks to establish a state in the southern Yemeni governorates, announced yesterday that it would not retreat from what it called "a mandate from the people."
In Washington, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said yesterday that Washington was concerned about the Transitional Council declaring self-management of areas under its control in Yemen.
Pompeo added that this decision threatens to undermine the efforts of the UN Special Envoy to Yemen to resume negotiations between the Yemeni government and the Houthis.
Pompeo indicated that this unilateral decision will deepen instability in Yemen, and called on the Southern Transitional Council and the Yemeni government to return to the political track resulting from the Riyadh agreement.
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On the other hand, the regional director of the International Committee of the Red Cross in the Middle East, Fabrizio Carbone, confirmed to the island that the organization agreed to participate in the prisoner exchange process in Yemen despite the risks related to the Coruna epidemic.
Carbone also said that almost everything is ready regarding the exchange of prisoners in Yemen, and that the Red Cross is only waiting for the final green light from the parties to the conflict to complete the process.
He added that the Red Cross is awaiting the final agreement between the three parties involved in the process, namely Saudi Arabia, the Yemeni government and the Houthi group, noting that the Red Cross needs two days to be fully prepared for a possible prisoner exchange.
It is noteworthy that the agreement concluded between the Houthi group and the Yemeni government in Sweden in late 2018 included several provisions, one of which provides for the exchange of thousands of prisoners from both sides, as well as from the Saudi-Emirati alliance.