EU mediation launches to resolve differences of coalition factions

The European Union intervened again to resolve the differences between the members of the Riyadh-formed Presidential Council in an attempt to reach a consensus that would lead to the re-export of liquefied gas through the Balhaf facility in UAE-held Shabwa province, east of Yemen.

Head of the European Union mission in Yemen, Gabriel Munuera Viñals, met with leaders of the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC), to persuade them to make concessions to the head of the council, Rashad Al-Alimi, and make room for the other members.

The deepening differences threaten to storm the Council formed according to Saudi-Emirati understandings in Riyadh last April, to succeed the former president Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi.
In a speech on the anniversary of the September 26 revolution, Rashad Al-Alimi acknowledged the existence of differences within the Riyadh-formed Council.

Recently, disagreements between the council members have escalated with the forces of the STC, which demands separation, launching military operations to expand its influence in the provinces of Shabwa and Abyan, where forces affiliated with the Islah party have been stationed for years.

AA