The Yemeni government has reached power sharing deal with the country’s southern separatists, aiming to end the five-year war, officials told Agence France-Presse (AFP) last Friday.
Under the deal between warring sides, a new government to be formed including 24 members, with an equal number of portfolios to be allocated to both the secessionist Southern Transitional Council (STC) and the current Yemeni government.
In return, the Yemeni government backed by Saudi Arabia would return to the southern city of Aden, according to officials and reports in Saudi media.
Saudi Arabia has brokered the agreement, in which the separatists had agreed to disband their militias, integrating it into the Yemeni government forces, under leadership of President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi.
An STC official in Riyadh told AFP that the deal had been agreed, hoping that the government would add its signature soon. “We signed the final draft of the agreement and waiting for the joint signature within days,” he said, expecting that both president Hadi and STC leader Aidarous al-Zoubeidi would attend a ceremony in Riyadh.
Yemeni government officials also confirmed that the deal was reached between the conflicting parties, adding it is expected to be signed by Tuesday.
Despite the deadly clashes between Yemeni government forces and the separatists, they’re allies in the Saudi-led war against the Houthis.
The conflict has killed tens of thousands of civilians and driven millions more to the brink of famine in what the UN described as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
