Yemeni army commanders have been in the Saudi capital Riyadh for a week to discuss a way forward amid roadblocks in the implementation of the military annex of the Saudi-brokered Riyadh Agreement. 

The unannounced visit of Yemeni military leaders from Abyan governorate included commander of the 39th Armored Brigade Brig. Gen. Abdullah Al-Subaihi, commander of the 115th Infantry Brigade Brig. Saif al-Qufaish, commander of the 3rd Presidential Protection Brigade Brig. Louay Al-Zamki,  commander of the Special Security Forces in Abyan Col. Mohammed Al-Awban, a military official in Yemen’s Ministry of Defense told Almasdar Online. 

In Riyadh, the commanders met with Gen. Nasser Hadi, son of Yemen’s President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi, the official said, but did not confirm if they met with President Hadi. In a separate meeting, the Yemeni commanders and members of the Saudi defense ministry discussed mutual withdrawals and the redeployment of the Yemeni army and forces aligned with the pro-separation Southern Transitional Council (STC), as outlined in the Riyadh Agreement, which halted intense fighting between the STC and army in August. During the meeting, the Saudis proposed an amendment to the deployment of some government military forces.

The Yemeni commanders informed the Saudis that their forces had already withdrawn from the coastal town of Shaqra in Abyan governorate, but the STC forces stationed on the outskirts of Abyan’s capital Zinjibar have not yet withdrawn, the official said.