The Saudi-Emirati coalition has announced a cease-fire between the Yemeni government and the Emirati-backed transitional council, and this announcement comes after the council’s militants took control of Socotra Island (southern Yemen) amid Yemeni accusations of the coalition to facilitate the new “coup” against legitimacy.
Today, Monday, the coalition spokesman, Turki al-Maliki, said that the Yemeni government and the Transitional Council agreed to his request for a comprehensive ceasefire, a meeting in the Kingdom to move forward in implementing the Riyadh agreement signed between the two parties last November, and the return of political and military committees and teams to work to implement it in a manner Urgent.
Al-Maliki added that the Joint Forces Command will deploy monitors on the ground in the Abyan governorate (southeast) to monitor the ceasefire and separate the forces. Abyan has recently witnessed battles between the Yemeni army and the forces of the Transitional Council, which seeks to revive the southern state that existed until 1990.
The Saudi News Agency said that the coalition deplores the recent developments in a number of southern governorates in Yemen, and calls on all parties to avoid escalation in all Yemeni governorates, including media escalation.
A spokesman for the Saudi-Emirati coalition stressed that the coalition rejects any practices that harm security and stability and violate the Riyadh agreement in any of the liberated areas, in reference to the areas controlled by either the Yemeni government or the transitional council.
The fall of Socotra
The coalition's announcement of a comprehensive cease-fire comes three days after the UAE-backed militants took control of Socotra Island, about 350 kilometers from the coast of Aden, and declared them self-administered there, despite the presence of Saudi forces there.
Yemeni officials had accused Saudi Arabia of turning a blind eye to what they considered a coup against the legitimate authority in Socotra. Previously, the Saudi-Emirati coalition faced accusations from Yemeni officials of enabling the transitional council to control the temporary capital of Aden and other areas in the south.
Yemeni officials also warned of new coups against legitimacy being prepared in other southern governorates, including Hadramawt (eastern Yemen).
The Yemeni government and the Transitional Council have exchanged accusations over the past months of the non-implementation of the terms of the Riyadh Agreement, and the crisis was further complicated by the announcement by the Council last April of self-management in the southern governorates, a step that the Yemeni government considered a full-fledged coup.
Self-management
Meanwhile, members and supporters of the Southern Transitional Council in Hadramawt called for the implementation of what they called self-administration in the governorate, which the Yemeni government fears will be the next target of the separatists.
Protesters in a demonstration organized by the Transitional Council in the city of Mukalla in Hadramout called for what they called the purification of corrupt governmental institutions and the empowerment of Hadrami elite forces established by the Emirates, to control and take over security functions in Wadi Hadramout districts instead of government forces.
The transitional council organized the demonstration in conjunction with the presence of the governor of Hadramaut Faraj Al-Bahsni in Abu Dhabi on an unannounced visit.
In Socotra, local sources said that the gunmen of the Transitional Council arrested the journalist and political activist, Abdullah Al-Qahtari, and took him to the headquarters of the 1st Brigade, Marine Corps, who had previously declared his rebellion against the legitimate Yemeni government and his support for the council.
After its control of Socotra on Friday, the Transitional Council deported dozens of people from the northern governorates on small boats, according to a local source.