Beijing, 8 Apr (Xinhua) -- Yemeni President Abdulab Mansour Hadi announced on April 7 that he would transfer power to a newly formed presidential council, which would be responsible for peace talks with the Houthis in Yemen. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates welcomed this and pledged another $3 billion in aid to Yemen.
Hadi, 76, who is in exile in Saudi Arabia, made a televised speech on the same day, announcing his decision to resign and dismissing Vice President Ali Muhsin Ahmed.
On June 27, 2018, then-UN Special Envoy for Yemen, Martin Griffiths, right, met with Yemeni President Hadi in Aden, Yemen. Xinhua News Agency (Photo by Ismail)
Hardy will transfer power to an eight-member presidential council. The commission is headed by Hadi's adviser, Rashad Mohammed Alimi, who served as interior minister under former President Ali Abdullah Saleh and has close ties to all aspects of Yemen, as well as to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
The other 7 members include Edalus Zubeidi, leader of the Southern Transitional Council, Sheikh Sultan Alady, Governor of Malib Governor, and Tariq Saleh, nephew of former President Saleh.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman received a member of the Yemeni Presidential Committee in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, on the 7th.
People fetch water at a charity water station in Yemen's Haj province on March 21. Due to a variety of factors, many parts of Yemen are still facing drinking water shortages. Xinhua News Agency (Photo by Mohammed Wafi)
Over the past week, at the instigation of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), major Yemeni factions have held talks in Riyadh to discuss ways out of ending the civil war. The Houthis boycotted the talks and did not send anyone to the meeting.
Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates will each inject $1 billion into the central bank of Yemen, and Saudi Arabia will provide another $1 billion in oil and other project assistance, according to Saudi state media.
Later that day, jordan's Foreign Ministry welcomed the latest developments in the situation in Yemen. The Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, Ahmed Ali Abu Gheit, called on the Yemeni parties to abide by the ceasefire agreement reached and to enter into serious negotiations for a final settlement of the crisis.
At THE UNITED NATIONS headquarters in New York on Feb. 28, the UN Security Council voted on the resolution. The United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 2624 on the same day, which decided to impose an arms embargo on the Houthis in Yemen. This is the first time that the Security Council has included the Houthis as an entity in the scope of the arms embargo sanctions. Xinhua News Agency (Photo by United Nations/Roy Felip)
Under the good offices of the United Nations, the Parties to the Conflict in Yemen agreed to a two-month ceasefire, and the ceasefire agreement entered into force on the 2nd. During the ceasefire, the Yemeni conflicting parties will cease all offensive military operations within and across borders, allow commercial flights to and from Sana'a International Airport and fuel vessels into the Red Sea port of Hodeida. If the parties to the conflict agree after two months, the ceasefire will be extended.
In September 2014, Yemen's Houthi forces seized the capital, Sana'a, and later the southern region. In March 2015, Saudi Arabia and other countries launched a military campaign against the Houthis code-named "Decisive Storm". In December 2018, under the mediation of the United Nations, the Yemeni government and the Houthis reached agreement on important issues such as a ceasefire and prisoner-of-war swaps, but soon the two sides accused each other of breaking the ceasefire agreement. In December 2020, the Government of Yemen formed a coalition government with the Southern Transitional Council.
Peter Salisbury, an expert on Yemen at the International Crisis Research Group, said Hadi's transfer of power was a "big event." (Wang Hongbin)