Saudi Arabia calls for 'dialogue' in Riyadh as southern Yemen tensions escalate

Saudi Arabia has stepped in diplomatically as tensions rise in southern Yemen, calling for urgent dialogue among rival factions after recent violence and a renewed push for secession threatened to further destabilise the war-torn country.

In a statement posted on social media on Saturday, Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry called on Yemen’s southern factions to attend a “dialogue” in Riyadh. The ministry urged “a comprehensive conference in Riyadh to bring together all southern factions to discuss just solutions to the southern cause”, adding that the Yemeni government had issued the invitation for the talks.

Regional powers and competing factions

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have for years backed various factions operating in Yemen’s government-held areas, intervening in the neighbouring country’s long-running civil war. Their involvement has shaped power dynamics across the south, where rival groups have increasingly turned on each other.

Separatists push independence bid

One of the key factions, the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC), is now seeking to declare independence and establish a breakaway state, a move that would divide the Arabian Peninsula’s poorest country. The STC, which has seized large areas of territory in recent weeks, has announced plans for a two-year transitional process to form a state in the south.

On Friday, airstrikes carried out by a Saudi-backed coalition killed 20 people, according to the separatists. The coalition was formed in 2015 to try to remove the Houthi rebels from northern Yemen. However, after a decade of war, the Houthis remain entrenched in the north, while Saudi- and Emirati-backed factions have increasingly clashed with one another in the south.

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