Saudi Arabia on Saturday said it would host a comprehensive Yemeni dialogue to address the issue of the country’s south, after a major southern group outlined plans to move towards an independence referendum within two years.
The kingdom welcomed a request for the talks from Rashad Al Alimi, the chief of Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council (PLC), and called on all southern factions to join the conference to be held in Riyadh.
The dialogue aims to develop a comprehensive vision for “just solutions” to the southern issue that "fulfil the legitimate aspirations of the southern people", the Saudi government said.
Yemen’s unification in 1990 brought together two states whose divisions were never fully resolved. The north emerged from a 1962 uprising, while Britain’s 1967 withdrawal from Aden shaped the south.
The Saudi authorities have not yet announced who will be invited or when the conference will be convened.
However, Mr Al Alimi said he hoped the talks would include "all southern components, forces and figures without exception, including the Southern Transitional Council" (STC).
He added that he had requested that Saudi Arabia host the conference in a manner that recognises “the south’s diversity and pluralism, prevents exclusion or marginalisation, and avoids repeating the injustices of the past".
Mr Al Alimi spoke after the STC announced the launch of a two-year trans
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