UN welcomes consensus reached by Yemeni gov't, STC

ANKARA

The UN's envoy to Yemen welcomed a consensus Wednesday between the Yemeni government and UAE-backed Southern Transition Council (STC) to expedite the implementation of the Riyadh Agreement.

"This is an important step towards the peaceful resolution of the conflict in Yemen through a Yemeni-led political process under UN auspices," Martin Griffiths said on Twitter.

Griffiths also praised the central role Saudi Arabia played in mediating the consensus.

The Riyadh agreement was signed between the government and STC in November following a month of fighting and included 29 terms to address political, social, economic and security situations in Yemen's southern provinces. Both parties, however, blamed each other for not abiding by the agreement.

Saudi Arabia on Wednesday presented a resolution to implement the stalled Riyadh Agreement, according to the Saudi state news agency.

On response, Yemen's separatist STC announced that it gave up its three-month self-rule in the southern provinces.

STC spokesman Nizar Haitham later said on Twitter that it accepted Saudi Arabia's proposal.

Later on Wednesday, Yemeni President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi, who currently resides in Saudi Arabia, appointed a governor and chief of police in Aden, the temporary capital.

In the same day, Hadi ordered the country's prime minister to form a new cabinet in accordance with the Riyadh agreement.

Violence had previously flared between STC and government forces since the group declared self-rule in Aden and other southern provinces in April.

Yemen has been devastated by a conflict that escalated in March 2015 after Iran-backed Houthi rebels seized the capital of Sana'a and forced Hadi to flee the country.

*Writing by Zehra Nur Duz