UPDATE - Yemeni President, Southern Separatist Leader Commit To Implementing Peace Deal - Reports

DOHA (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 08th November, 2019) The internationally recognized Yemeni government, led by President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi, and the Southern Transitional Council (STC), headed by Aidarus Zubaidi, agreed to implement a peace deal recently reached in Riyadh, media reported.

The two leaders held a meeting on Thursday.

During it, the president noted the "importance of making steps toward the implementation of all details of the Riyadh agreement to stabilize the situation in the south of the country," Al Arabiya reported.

Zubaidi, in his turn, noted the STC's readiness to support Hadi and work together with the government for the peace deal implementation.

Hadi also expressed his willingness to settle the situation in southern Yemen as soon as possible through comprehensive peace dialogue.

The two sides signed a peace deal in the Saudi capital on Tuesday.

Nasser Khabji, a senior member of the STC, told Sputnik on Thursday that despite the agreement between the council and the government, the STC would continue its work for achieving independence of southern Yemen.

Khabji characterized the Riyadh deal as transitional, noting that declaring the independence of southern Yemen was something unavoidable.

The STC was created in 2017 and Zubaidi, the former governor of Aden, became its chief.

The separatist forces have been allied with the government in their fight against the Houthi rebel movement. However, they engaged in a conflict with the authorities in August, making Aden and other southern provinces a scene of violent clashes.

The southern Democratic Republic of Yemen and the northern Yemen Arab Republic were unified in 1990, forming the Republic of Yemen. However, the southern regions have been seeking independence ever since.