Saudis Still Banning Puppet Presidential Council Members From Returning to Aden

Saudis Still Banning Puppet Presidential Council Members From Returning to Aden

The UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) admitted that the Saudi-led coalition countries prevented the return of Aidarus al-Zoubaidi, the head of STC to the city of Aden, according to media outlets affiliated with the STC.

Pro-STC newspaper reported that the failure to return of “Riyadh-formed Presidential Council”, to Aden, is due to real differences between members of the Council. The differences also caused the failure to hold a meeting of the Council in the Saudi capital Riyadh as previously scheduled.

The head of Riyadh-formed Presidential Council, Rashad Al-Alimi, failed to convince members to hold the meeting, sources said, noting that the three members (Faraj Al-Bahsani, Othman Majali, and Tariq Affash declared war on Al-Alimi, because of their disagreement with his orientations with the “STC”.

Sources attributed the dispute to the fact that Al-Alimi wants to impose his decisions on everyone without consensus and not taken into account the rest of the members loyal to the UAE and Turkey, in a clear indication that Saudi Arabia prevented the return of al-Zoubaidi to Aden.

The sources said that Al-Alimi submitted a proposal to Saudi Arabia to overthrow his seven deputies, and appoint one deputy next to him, so that he can manage the situation in the southern provinces , which are under the control of the coalition-backed militia.

Saudi Arabia has failed to resolve dispute between the council’s members since they were summoned by Khalid bin Salman, who is responsible for the Yemeni file, after his appointment as defense minister in early October. Also Saudis prevented a number of members from returning to Aden, including Aidarous al-Zoubaidi, whose militia are taken control over Ma’ashiq Palace.

During the past few days, Rashad Al-Alimi appeared in a television interview with the Saudi-funded channel “Al-Arabiya”, admitting his inability and abject failure in managing Aden, and his council does not have a headquarters in the city except four rooms and a bathroom rented from the Hills Club in the Haqat area near the Ma’ashiq Palace in the Crater area.

The UAE prevented three members of the Al-Alimi Council. Those members are  Tariq Afash, Aidarous Al-Zoubaidi, Faraj Al-Bahsani, from attending the meeting of the Council on Wednesday in Riyadh, registering their attendance online for fear of being detained and not allowing them to leave later from the Saudi authorities.