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Yemen faction rejects implementation of Riyadh Agreement 

August 4, 2020 at 11:51 am

A fighter loyal to Yemen’s separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC) holds the separatist flag in the southern Abyan province on May 18, 2020 [NABIL HASAN/AFP via Getty Images]

A Yemeni faction has announced its rejection of any agreements that do not implement the demand for self-rule in the south of the country.

The statement by the Supreme Council of the Revolutionary Movement for the Peaceful Liberation and Independence of the South follows the decision by the Southern Transitional Council (STC) to abandon its separatist demands and seek the implementation of the Riyadh Agreement signed by the Yemen government of Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi late last year.

The head of the Revolutionary Movement, Hassan Ba’oum, said on Sunday evening that he rejects any agreements or initiatives that do not meet the aspirations of the people of the south of Yemen to establish an independent state. “As such, I have directed the leaders of the movement in all the southern governorates to escalate the revolutionary efforts, and ordered the formation of committees to communicate with the various southern leaders, including military and academic personalities, who believe in liberation and independence.”

READ: UAE-backed Yemen group give up self-rule in favour of joining government

Ba’oum explained that this step is intended to unite the ranks in order to confront those who are diminishing the rights of the people in the south of the war-torn country; in reference to the UAE-backed STC.

The Revolutionary Movement is known for its anti-Saudi and anti-UAE stances. It has called repeatedly for the expulsion of the Saudi-led Arab coalition from Yemen’s southern provinces, calling it “an occupation force”.

The STC announced last week that it is abandoning self-rule nearly three months after it had declared its autonomy. That move was met with widespread international and Arab rejection, and coincided with Yemeni President Hadi appointing a governor and security director for the temporary Yemeni capital, Aden.

The movement’s announcement came a day after Saudi Arabia announced a mechanism to accelerate the implementation of the Riyadh Agreement between the legitimate government and the STC, signed in November 2019.