![Aidroos Al-Zubaidi, President of the Yemen’s Southern Transitional Council (STC), 10 August 2018 [Ali Mahmood Mohammed/Twitter]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Aidroos-Al-Zubaidi.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1)
President of the Yemen’s Southern Transitional Council (STC) and Supreme Commander of the Southern Armed Forces, Aidroos Al-Zubaidi, stressed that the council is moving forward with implementing its self-rule decision.
Speaking on the third anniversary of the founding of the movement, Al-Zubaidi pledged to control the state institutions and implement self-rule measures, which he announced last week.
The STC is keen to “come out with gains from every stage … until ensuring full protection for the south”, he said in a statement from his home in the UAE capital, Abu Dhabi.
Al-Zubaidi justified the STC’s decision as being the result of the stalled implementation of the Riyadh Agreement concluded with the Yemeni government under Saudi sponsorship in November last year.
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He explained that the STC forces will fight a battle to control all state institutions and resources, calling on “the liberation and independence forces” to participate actively in the battle.
On 25 April, the UAE-backed STC announced that it would establish self-rule in regions under their control including the strategic city of Aden which has been the seat of the internationally backed, exiled government of President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi.