Yemeni Gov’t, Southern Authority Reach Power-Sharing Deal

ADEN, Oct 26 (NNN-SABA) – The Saudi-backed Yemeni government, reached a power-sharing deal with the Southern Transitional Council (STC), following several weeks of indirect talks between the two sides, in the Saudi Red Sea city of Jeddah, local sources said.

A Yemeni government source said, “A deal, which includes forming a power-sharing government, has been reached between the government and the STC, under the auspices of Saudi Arabia.”

He said, “Representatives of the two sides have already signed the first draft of the deal, that determined a specific time to form a new government, composed of 24 members equally.”

Yemen’s President, Abdu-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, will nominate the 24 members of the new government equally between the southern and northern provinces of the war-torn Arab country, the Yemeni source said.

The source confirmed that the Saudi-sponsored deal will be signed officially with the presence of President Hadi and the head of the Aden-based STC, Aidarous Zubaidi, in two days in Saudi Arabia’s capital of Riyadh.

Another government source said, the Saudi Arabia-led coalition will form a joint committee to oversee and follow up on the implementation of the Riyadh deal between the two sides.

An official of the STC in Aden confirmed that, “the southern leaders began a new page of cooperation and partnership with Saudi Arabia and the regional powers.”

“Following the Riyadh deal, the tense situation in southern Yemen will cease and both sides will work together on-ground,” the source said.