Yemen’s southern separatists declare self-rule, putting Saudi-brokered 2019 peace deal in jeopardy

The UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC), which is based in the southern Yemeni port of Aden, declared a state of emergency and announced that from now on it will “self-govern” the territories it controls. The separatists accused the Saudi-backed government of President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi of corruption and mismanagement.

Hadi’s government said that the STC’s decision amounts to a “complete withdrawal” from the Saudi-brokered peace, which was signed in November 2019. Foreign Minister Mohammed al-Hadhrami warned that the separatists will face “dangerous and catastrophic consequences.”

The UAE and Saudi Arabia are the main forces in the military coalition fighting against the Shia Houthi rebels, which control Yemen’s capital, Sanaa and are aligned with Iran. The Houthis seized Sanaa in 2014, forcing Hadi to flee to Aden and then to Saudi Arabia.

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