A Saudi-Emirati team arrived in Yemen’s interim capital Aden on an urgent mission to put in place executive mechanisms for the withdrawal of the Southern Transitional Council (STC) forces from the Hadhramaut and al-Mahra provinces and returning them under the control of previous forces under the direct supervision of the Saudi-led Arab coalition.
The team will discuss arrangements related to the handover of positions to the National Shield Forces to ensure that the situation returns to the way it was before the escalation.
The step is in line with Saudi Arabia’s intense efforts to end the escalation in eastern Yemen, in rejection of any unilateral measures taken by the STC in Hadhramaut, which the coalition viewed as an attempt to impose a new status quo or drag the province into internal strife that threatens peace and stability.
Sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that the arrival of the team consolidates Riyadh’s rejection of activities that may create mistrust or deepen the divisions inside Yemen’s legitimate institutions.
