Separatists demand removal of Saudi adviser from Aden

Separatists backed by Abu Dhabi have called for the expulsion of a Saudi military official from Aden, as hundreds gathered in a protest in the city on Thursday.

The demonstrators, affiliated with the dissolved Southern Transitional Council, staged a rally in Yemen’s temporary capital, Aden, in the south of the country. The protest was directed against the Yemeni government and Saudi Arabia, which supports it.

Protesters chanted slogans demanding the removal of Falah Al-Shahrani, adviser at the Saudi Royal Court and adviser to the commander of the Joint Forces, from Aden.

READ: UAE weaponised antisemitism in Washington in its feud with Saudi Arabia

Al-Shahrani is overseeing efforts to reorganise the security and military situation in southern Yemen, including in the temporary capital. He has been holding ongoing meetings with military leaders from various southern provinces at the headquarters of the Arab Coalition west of Aden.

A video circulated online showed crowds of supporters of the dissolved council, which is backed by Abu Dhabi, chanting: “It is our duty, it is our duty… to expel Al-Shahrani is a duty.”

The protest came a day after the head of the dissolved Southern Transitional Council, Aidarous Al-Zubaidi, called on his supporters to adhere to the principles of the constitutional declaration he announced at the beginning of last January.

READ: New Yemeni government formed under Shaya al-Zindani with 34 ministers