Political consultations began in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, between the legitimate Yemeni government and the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council, with the aim of forming a new government. This development comes in light of the continued decline in the authority of the Yemeni government in the southern governorates, despite the deployment of the coalition forces in them.
The consultations began amid talk of Saudi pressure on President Hadi to implement the political part of the Riyadh agreement concluded between the Yemeni government and the Transitional Council last November, in exchange for guarantees that the military and security component would be implemented at a later time.
The transitional council had earlier called for the formation of a new government, split between it and legitimacy, according to the Riyadh agreement.
The talks aimed at forming a new government in Yemen come about two weeks after Saudi Arabia announced a cease-fire between the two parties in Abyan Governorate (southern Yemen) and the deployment of monitors on the ground in the province.
Riyadh faces accusations that it is working, despite its declared support for the Hadi government, to enable the transitional council to increase its influence at the expense of the legitimate government.
After announcing last April "self-administration" in the southern governorates, the transitional council continued to expand its influence recently by controlling Socotra governorate, which is about 350 km away, without being responsible for the Riyadh agreement.
Aden sit-in
On the other hand, military and security forces organized a massive sit-in in the city of Aden (southern Yemen), during which they demanded the Saudi-Emirati coalition to pay their late salaries.
The officers and soldiers belonging to military and security institutions gathered in front of the coalition forces headquarters in Al-Shaab City in Aden, and demanded that the coalition leadership as responsible for governing the affairs of the governorates pay their late salaries five months ago, as well as four months of the year before last.
The sit-in coincided with a protest by the people of the city to demand the improvement of electricity and water services in the temporary capital, which is witnessing a deterioration in the infrastructure, and an outbreak of several epidemics that caused the death of hundreds of people during the past weeks.
The sit-in, which was carried out by the military and security forces in Aden, is the latest protest of its kind against the coalition, where Yemeni soldiers have previously organized protests in their areas of deployment south of Saudi Arabia demanding their return to their country.
Al-Bayda battles and
in military developments, a Yemeni military source said that the army and resistance forces were able to control a number of locations where the Houthi group was stationed in the Qaniya area of Al-Bayda governorate (central Yemen).
This source added that the battles coincided with raids of the Saudi-Emirati alliance targeting separate locations of the Houthis and reinforcements that were on the way to the front, and were able to completely destroy them.
He added that vehicles were seen after the fighting carrying the bodies of the dead who were killed in the confrontations.
In late June, the Houthis announced that they had taken control of the Qaniya area, and a few days ago they announced that they had also controlled the Radman district in Al-Bayda in full.
On the other hand, local sources said that the Houthi gunmen stormed and took control of the house of Abdul Razzaq Al-Hajri, head of the parliamentary bloc of the Yemeni Islah Reform Group.
Local sources added that the gunmen kidnapped the head of the family who was living in the house and took him to an unknown location, and expelled the rest of its members.
The incident is part of a series of incursions and control of the homes of a number of opposition parliamentarians, and the confiscation of their contents in Sanaa.