Yemeni govt & separatists may ink deal to end Aden standoff this week

Yemen’s Saudi-backed government and southern separatists are expected on Thursday to announce a deal to end a power struggle over the southern port of Aden, Reuters reports, citing officials. The tension has fractured an Arab coalition battling the Houthi group.

The UAE-backed separatist Southern Transition Council (STC) is nominally allied to the Saudi-backed government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, but the two sides fell out in August, with the separatists seizing control of Aden.

Saudi Arabia has hosted indirect talks between them to rebuild the coalition fighting against the Houthi movement that expelled Hadi’s government from the capital Sanaa five years ago.

The deal reportedly calls for a government reshuffle to include STC, which seeks self-rule in the south, and the restructuring of armed forces under Saudi supervision.