Yemen Monitor – Mukalla – Exclusive:
A Saudi delegation departed Hadramowt in eastern Yemen on Monday evening accompanied by the governor, at a time when the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) continues to reinforce its forces toward the oil-rich governorate, a senior government official told Yemen Monitor.
According to the official, a military transport aircraft belonging to the Royal Saudi Air Force took off from Al-Rayyan International Airport carrying the Saudi delegation and Hadramowt Governor Salem Al-Khanbashi. Earlier on Monday, STC loyalists had staged a protest outside his home demanding his dismissal over his refusal to allow non-local forces into the governorate.
Sources said the delegation included Lt. Gen. Dr. Mohammed Obeid bin Al-Qahtani, head of the Saudi Special Committee on Yemen, and Maj. Gen. Fallah Al-Shahrani, a senior adviser in the Saudi Joint Forces Command, widely seen as the principal figure overseeing coalition-aligned Yemeni units, along with other Hadrami officials.
The Saudi delegation had arrived in the governorate mid-last week following the STC’s takeover of Wadi Hadramowt. They succeeded in brokering an agreement between the local authority and the Hadramowt Tribes Alliance, but the STC violated the deal the following day by storming the Hadramowt plateau and seizing control of oil facilities.
The official spoke to Yemen Monitor on condition of anonymity.
The Saudi delegation had repeatedly demanded the withdrawal of all military forces or security elements that had entered Hadramowt from outside the governorate, stressing its complete rejection of the developments there.
