Supporters of Yemen’s separatist Southern Transitional Council demonsrate in Daleh, the hometown of the group’s chief Aidarous Al-Zubaidi, in his support (photo: AFP)
Yemen’s internationally recognised government held its first meeting in the Yemeni interim capital this weekend amid violent unrest around the presidential palace. The new government was formed earlier this month under Saudi patronage by the Presidential Leadership Council (PLC), after the council purged those of its members who represented the separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC), backed by UAE.
The move took place only weeks after the STC militia was expelled from the governorates of Hadramawt and Al-Mahra, which they had tried to control late last year.
The new government, led by Prime Minister Shaya Mohsen Al-Zindani, moved to the Maasheq Presidential Palace in Aden to establish its legitimacy as a fact on the ground. Aden has been the interim capital of unified Yemen since the Iran-backed Houthi rebels captured the capital Sanaa and placed much of the north under their control. But STC-affiliated protesters blocked the roads leading to Maasheq, preventing cabinet ministers from reaching the government meeting venues. When the demonstrators tried to storm the palace, military and security forces intervened and clashes left at least one dead and eleven injured.
The STC, which announced its dissolution in January and whose leaders are believed to be in Abu Dhabi, issued a statement backing the protesters against what it called “imposed policies and attempts to bypass southern political aspirations”. An official source told official news agency Sabaa that state leaders had monitored “with deep regret” what he described as “acts of incitement and armed mobilisation by elements outside the law, culminating in repeated attempts to attack public institutions”. Protests started on Thursday, a day before the government meeting in Aden.
The PLC also officially accused unnamed parties of financing, arming and inciting the confrontations, and of pushing individuals in civilian clothing into clashes with security personnel. He said the government’s meeting in Aden sent a “decisive message” that the state is pressing ahead with restoring the regular functioning of its institutions. The timing of the unrest, he added, coincided with what he described as tangible improvements in public services and preparations for a Saudi-sponsored southern conference, raising questions about the role of certain regional actors allegedly seeking to undermine national unity in the face of the Houthi threat.
A Gulf commentator told Al-Ahram Weekly, the return of unrest in Yemen is a “gift to the Houthi rebels”. But the Houthis shouldn’t be all that content with infighting among factions of the legitimate government.
Many analysts believe that southerners are mostly pro independence in one form or another. The Saudis also understand that fact and are trying to appease the south to keep it within a united country. Yet they don’t accept the now dissolved STC’s stance as they see it undermining their efforts for a political solution in Yemen, even with the Houthis included at a later stage. There are suspicions that separatists are looking to benefit from renewed Israeli attacks on Yemen, mainly on Houthi positions but ultimately affecting the whole country. As the tension in the region rises with the prospect of a war on Iran, Israel has plans to attack Lebanon, Yemen, and other countries too.
According to a report in the Saudi-daily Asharq Al-Awsat, Israel plans “unprecedented strikes” in Lebanon, Yemen, and Iraq as part of the US-Iran war. Citing Israeli military sources, the paper said Israel was preparing for possible strikes against Hizbullah in Lebanon, Ansarallah in Yemen, and resistance factions in Iraq. This will definitely aggravate the situation in Yemen, undermining Saudi efforts to stabilise a country that has suffered hundreds of thousands of causalities and seen more than half of its population sink into poverty. This is one of the reasons the Saudis are opposed to a war on Iran, as many Western analysts note. The unrest in Yemen is not likely to end soon as the southern separatists will not give up on their demand for an independent South Yemen.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 26 February, 2026 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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