What are significances of Al-Zoubaidi’s appearance heavily armed during his meeting with Saudi military delegation?
ADEN, Aug 03 (YPA) -Aidarous al-Zoubaidi, the head of the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC), appeared heavily armed earlier this week during a meeting with the Saudi military the city of Aden, which is under the control of the Saudi-led coalition forces.
Activists on social media platforms referred to Zubaidi as”Cowboy” because he wearing a cowboy hat.
They noted that he was armed with his personal weapon, which he placed on his right thigh. He talked to Saudi military leaders including “Major General Falah Al-Shahrani and Abdulaziz Al-Balawi, commander of the 802nd Force for Support,” about his strong disagreement with Saudi Arabia, who are supporting the head of the “Presidential Leadership Council” Rashad Al-Alimi.
The activists noted that during the meeting with the Saudi leaders, al-Zoubaidi took down the separatist flag in his office. The flag always appears behind him in his office. This indicated that Saudi Arabia intends to extend the influence of al-Alimi by force in Aden and the rest of the southern provinces.
They wondered about the motives behind the STC’s blackout of the meeting with the Saudi military delegation from the beginning of this week to this Wednesday.
Informed political sources in Aden reported that the Saudi military delegation briefed Al-Zoubaidi on the Saudi plan to return hundreds of officials in the pro-coalition government to Aden in the coming days. The sources stressed that Al-Zoubaidi received a strongly worded message from the Saudi Special Committee warning the STC-affiliated factions against committing aggression towards the returning officials while practicing their duties in the southern governorates.
The sources stated that the Saudi military leaders pointed to the so-called “Riyadh Agreement,” signed with the pro-coalition government and the STC in November 2019, which calls for the removal of the STC-affiliated factions from Aden and the return of the “Presidential Protection Brigades” that previously fled to Abyan following the confrontations that erupted in Aden in August 2019.
According to the sources, Saudi Arabia seeks to tighten the noose around the STC, which implements Emirati policy. Saudi is actively limiting the STC’s military expansions towards the districts of Hadramout in the Valley and Desert. Saudi Arabia also announced the establishment of the “Hadramout Council” in Riyadh at the end of last June.
E.M