{"id":8898,"date":"2026-01-03T02:39:33","date_gmt":"2026-01-03T02:39:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/?p=8898"},"modified":"2026-01-03T02:39:33","modified_gmt":"2026-01-03T02:39:33","slug":"saudi-invites-yemens-southern-factions-to-dialogue-in-riyadh-after-surprise-independence-bid-yemen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/?p=8898","title":{"rendered":"Saudi invites Yemen\u2019s southern factions to \u2018dialogue\u2019 in Riyadh after surprise independence bid | Yemen"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Saudi Arabia\u2019s foreign ministry has called for Yemen\u2019s southern factions to attend a \u201cdialogue\u201d in Riyadh, after a surprise independence bid and the United Arab Emirates<\/a> declaring it had withdrawn all troops from Yemen.<\/p>\n

In a statement on Saturday, the Saudi ministry urged \u201ca comprehensive conference in Riyadh to bring together all southern factions to discuss just solutions to the southern cause\u201d. Riyadh said the Yemeni government had issued the invitation for talks.<\/p>\n

Yemen\u2019s separatist movement earlier on Friday announced a constitution for an independent nation in the south and demanded other factions in the war-torn country accept the move.<\/p>\n

The UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council depicted the announcement as a declaration of independence for the south. But it was not immediately clear if the move could be implemented or was largely symbolic.<\/p>\n

Saudi Arabia and the UAE have for years supported various factions within Yemen\u2019s government-run territories, intervening in the neighbouring country\u2019s long-running civil war.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the UAE said it had withdrawn all its troops from Yemen.<\/p>\n

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The move comes after days of airlifts by UAE military aircraft following an order to withdraw from anti-Houthi forces in Yemen. This followed Saudi Arabia pushing back against the advance of Emirati-backed separatists there.<\/p>\n

The announcements came as the Saudi-backed and internationally recognised government moved to recapture the crucial region of Hadramout from the STC. The STC seized much of Hadramout, bordering Saudi Arabia, and neighbouring al-Mahra last month<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Earlier on Friday, Salem al-Khanbashi, the Hadramout governor under the internationally recognised government, said he had launched a \u201cpeaceful\u201d operation to restore control over the area.<\/p>\n

Saudi airstrikes hit an airport in Hadramout, according to a spokesperson for the province\u2019s tribes, and the governor said his forces had taken control of the most important military base in the area.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis operation is not a declaration of war nor an attempt to escalate tensions,\u201d Khanbashi was quoted as saying by the Saba Net news agency. \u201cThis operation does not target any political or social group,\u201d he said, adding that it \u201caims to peacefully and systematically hand over military sites\u201d.<\/p>\n

Mohammed Abdulmalik, the head of the STC in Wadi Hadramaot and Hadramaot desert, said seven airstrikes hit al-Khasah camp, killing seven people and wounding more than 20. Further strikes targeted other sites in the same region, he added.<\/p>\n

Saudi sources confirmed the strikes were carried out by the Saudi-led coalition, which nominally includes the UAE and was formed in 2015 to fight the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen\u2019s north.<\/p>\n

A source close to the Saudi military said: \u201cIt will not stop until the Southern Transitional Council withdraws from the two governorates.\u201d<\/p>\n

The wealthy Gulf powers formed the backbone of the military coalition aimed at dislodging the Houthis, who forced the government from the capital, Sana\u2019a, in 2014 and seized Yemen\u2019s most populated areas. But after a decade-long civil war, the Houthis remain in place and the Saudis and Emiratis are backing different factions in the government-held territories.<\/p>\n

Amr al-Bidh, the foreign affairs representative for the STC, accused Riyadh of having \u201cknowingly misled the international community by announcing a \u2018peaceful operation\u2019 that they never had any intention to keep peaceful\u201d. \u201cThis was evidenced by the fact that they launched 7 airstrikes minutes later,\u201d he posted on X.<\/p>\n

Saudi Arabia has repeatedly urged the STC to withdraw from the recently conquered territories.<\/p>\n

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On Friday the Saudi ambassador to Yemen, Mohammed al-Jabir, said the STC had blocked a Saudi delegation from landing at Aden airport, accusing the group of \u201cintransigence\u201d.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, Yemen\u2019s STC-controlled transport ministry had denounced a Saudi demand that all planes to and from the UAE make a stop in Saudi Arabia for security checks.<\/p>\n

According to Flightradar24<\/a>, no planes have taken off or landed at Aden airport for more than 24 hours, although the transport ministry did not officially announce its closure.<\/p>\n

With Agence France-Presse and Associated Press<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

#Saudi #invites #Yemens #southern #factions #dialogue #Riyadh #surprise #independence #bid #Yemen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Saudi Arabia\u2019s foreign ministr… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8899,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8898"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8898"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8898\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8899"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8898"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8898"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8898"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}