STC announces second anti-Saudi protest in Hadramout

HADRAMOUT, June 19 (YPA) – The recently “dissolved”  Southern Transitional Council (STC) announced on Friday plans to organize a second protest venue in southern and eastern Yemen amid growing opposition to the Saudi influence in the region.

The STC’s Hadramout branch said it was preparing a demonstration in the city of Seiyun, the administrative center of the Wadi and Desert districts, to express rejection “Saudi tutelage and dominance.”

The branch called on residents of Hadramout to gather on Saturday afternoon at the square of the historic Seiyun Palace, while warning Saudi-backed forces, including “Dera Al-Watan” and Emergency units, against obstructing participants or preventing them from entering the city through military checkpoints.

The move follows a similar call for a demonstration at Al-Aroudh Square in Aden’s Khormaksar district, where Saudi-backed factions have reportedly intensified their military presence ahead of the planned rally.

The planned protest comes in response to recent Saudi-backed developments, including a request by the Saudi-backed government’s UN envoy to the UN Security Council to place Eidrous al-Zubaidi and his associates on sanctions lists, as well as a decision by the Aden-based attorney general to freeze the STC’s funds and bank accounts.

According to sources affiliated with the STC, tensions escalated after Saudi authorities dissolved the STC in early January following clashes in Hadramout and Mahra, and amid disagreements between Riyadh and al-Zubaidi over political arrangements in southern Yemen.

@E.Y.M