ADEN: Yemen’s embattled government warned of mass riots after a southern separatist movement called on Wednesday for an uprising against President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, accusing the authorities of negligence and corruption.
The Southern Transitional Council, which wants the reinstatement of an independent south Yemen, issued the call for a “peaceful, popular uprising” in protest against inflation and poverty in the war-torn country.
“All of southern Yemen is a disaster area thanks to the policies of the so-called legitimate government,” read a statement released by the STC.
The separatists called on Saudi Arabia and its allies, which publicly support the president, to back their push for independence and find a “solution to the issue of the south”.
In a statement released in response, the Yemeni government urged the “so-called transitional council to abandon any military or security plans that are not part of the legitimate government and turn instead to political work”.
“Any rioting would only harm the security and unity of Yemen and its people...,” the statement said.
Yemen’s Saudi-backed government has battled northern Ansar Allah group for four years. Southern Yemen is home to both the government and separatists, until January allies in the country’s war.
The STC and Hadi have publicly disagreed on the future of Yemen since clashes erupted in Aden in January, when separatists allied with troops trained by the United Arab Emirates seized control of parts of the government bastion of Aden.
The STC, mainly based in Aden province, has since gained traction in its push for self-rule over the past year and regularly denounces the government as corrupt.
The separatists have openly called for the reinstatement of north and south Yemen as independent states. The two were unified in 1990.
The Yemen war has triggered what the UN calls the world’s largest single humanitarian crisis, with more than three-quarters of the population in need of aid and 8.4 million people at risk of famine.
Nearly 10,000 people have been killed since Saudi Arabia and its allies intervened in 2015 to support the government in its fight against the Ansar Allah.
Meanwhile, Ansar Allah said on Wednesday they had released two sons of slain ex-president Ali Abdallah Saleh, 10 months after they were captured following the killing of their father.
Salah and Medyen Saleh were pardoned by Mehdi Mushat, head of the group’s supreme political council, and subsequently released, the Saba news agency said.
It did not give further details.
Ali Abdullah Saleh’s party, the General People’s Congress, has lost its power in the war between the Ansar Allah group and Saudi-led pro-government alliance, but continues to be a useful ally for Yemeni politicians seeking broader appeal.
The coalition backing Yemen’s government said that Saleh’s released sons had been flown out of Sanaa on a chartered UN flight to Jordan. That was confirmed by a source at Sanaa international airport. — AFP
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
