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Yemen separatists leave UN-sponsored talks

Saturday, 28 February 2015 5:24 PM [ Last Update: Saturday, 28 February 2015 5:23 PM ]

Yemeni supporters of the separatist Southern Movement gather in the southern city of Aden on February 27, 2015 during a protest demanding independence for the south. (© AFP)

Southern Movement separatists in Yemen have halted their participation in UN-backed negotiations over the future of the Arabian Peninsula country.

The Southern Movement announced that it is pulling out of the talks overnight on Friday. The group wants the breakaway of the areas of the formerly independent south.

The movement member, Yassin Mekkawi, said the separatists have suspended their “participation in the (UN-backed) national dialogue until it is moved out of the country.”

He further noted that negotiators have been facing rising “political and psychological pressure.”

The move comes as an unnamed official in the southern province of Lahij said on Saturday that fighting broke out between the secessionists and Yemeni troops after the separatists opened fire on an army convoy, leaving nine soldiers injured.

Earlier in February, the separatists kidnapped 12 soldiers and threatened to kill them unless the military handed over a military base to them.

Yemen talks

In September 2014, Ansarullah movement gained control of the capital, Sana’a, following a four-day battle with army forces loyal to General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, the half-brother of the country’s former dictator, Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Before gaining control of the capital, the Houthis had set a deadline for the political parties to put aside differences and end the political crisis in the country, but the deadline was missed without any change in the country’s political scene.

On January 22, Yemeni President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi and the cabinet of Prime Minister Khaled Bahah resigned. The Yemeni parliament rejected Hadi’s resignation. He recently sent a letter to the parliament, withdrawing his resignation.

On February 6, the Houthi movement dissolved the Yemeni parliament and announced a constitutional declaration on the Transitional National Council following weeks of clashes with government forces.

The Ansarullah revolutionaries say the Yemeni government has been incapable of properly running the affairs of the country and providing security.