South Yemen Separatists Accept Saudi Forces in Aden, But Yemen Govt Not Welcome

South Yemen’s separatist group, the Southern Transitional Council (STC) has annonced that they are accepting the presence of Saudi military forces in Aden as part of a deal intended to end fighting in the south. They warned, however, that the Saudi-backed Hadi government is “not welcome” in Aden.

This reflects the difficulty in implementing a hard-won deal to end fighting in the south when only one side is implementing any aspect of the deal. The STC’s allies, the UAE, have withdrawn from Aden, and are allowing the Saudis to take their place.

Which is half of the deal, but getting the government back in Aden was supposed to involve the Hadi government giving the STC some key posts in a power-sharing deal. So far, the government has just skipped over that, and insisted on being restored to power once the Saudis came back.

Giving the STC nothing is a non-starter, and the Saudis aren’t intended to occupy Aden anyhow, they’re just there to train up a new apolitical local militia to control the city. As with its other disputes, the Hadi government may believe it can stonewall and the Saudis will ultimately just take everything over and give them what they want.