South Yemen Ceasefire Takes Hold, Talks Planned

Separatists agree to Riyadh talks, no date set so far

After four days of fighting around the southern port of Aden, the separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC) has agreed to a ceasefire with the Saudi-led coalition, and to talks.

The STC had captured the presidential palace in Aden last week, and later the rest of the city, the historic capital of South Yemen. The ceasefire is so far holding, although clearly in a fragile state.

Assuming it continues to hold, the deal is meant to give way to reconciliation talks in Riyadh. No date has been set for hat, nor indeed even a specific agenda for how the talks might go.

The separatists, after all, have made no secret of their desire to reestablish an independent South Yemen at the end of this war, and Aden would be the capital for them to do so in.

Though the Saudi-backed government had always presented southern autonomy as a matter to be left until after the current war, and in all honesty probably ignored then, they may have a hard time selling the STC on ceding back Aden without some big assurances about the future.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.