Saudi Summit on Future of Yemen Delayed After Separatists Seize Aden

Summit would've discussed forming a new Yemen govt

A planned summit intended to form a new Yemeni government was to be held in Saudi Arabia, and was meant to shuffle around a few of the top factions around President Hadi’s would-be government. The summit, however, did not start.

Officials say that the summit is indefinitely on hold because the capital city of the Yemeni government, Aden, has fallen to the Southern Transitional Council (STC), a separatist movement for South Yemen.

The STC are aligned with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and a number of Yemen factions who have argued the government needs reshuffling, and indeed Saudi officials indicated that the plan was to give them some representation in the Saudi-dominated government as a sort of reform.

The STC has rejected the idea of returning Aden to government control, on the grounds that Aden is the capital of South Yemen, and they say they intend to take the rest of South Yemen’s territory. They did give the government back a handful of important buildings in the city, however, apparently hoping that would be a compromise, though it’s not one the Saudis seem okay living with.

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.