Yemen PM returns to Aden under deal with southern separatists

Yemen’s Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalik Saeed on Monday flew back to the southern city of Aden under the terms of a peace deal with southern separatists who expelled the government from its provisional capital in August, AFP reported.

The return from Riyadh of the prime minister follows the November deal with separatists who had chased the government out of the port city. Fighters of the separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC) last August seized control of Aden, which had become the seat of government after it was driven out of Yemen’s capital Sanaa in 2014 by Houthi rebels.

The STC and the government, which are considered allies in the fight against the Houthis, inked a power-sharing deal in Riyadh on November 5 under Saudi mediation.

The government’s return to Aden also laid the foundation for forming a new 24-member cabinet with equal representation for southerners, including the STC.