ADEN, Yemen, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- Yemen's government on Thursday signed a new agreement with the Southern Transitional Council (STC) to implement the Saudi-brokered deal, including withdrawing all military forces from Aden.
An official of the Yemeni government told Xinhua on condition of anonymity that representatives of the STC and the country's government reached an agreement to withdraw forces from Aden within three weeks.
Saudi Arabia supervised the signing of the agreement between the two rivals in order to implement the Riyadh deal signed last November, the source added.
The new agreement specified a deadline of 20 days, starting from Jan. 11, to withdraw all the STC's military units and government forces stationed in the country's southern regions, including Abayn and Shabwa, according to the Yemeni source.
Last week, representatives of the STC suspended their participation in a joint committee tasked with implementing the Saudi-brokered deal with the government.
An official of the Aden-based STC said on condition of anonymity that the suspension decision came in protest against the recent military escalation of the government forces in the southeastern province of Shabwa.
Last year, Saudi Arabia persuaded the STC and the Yemeni government to hold reconciliation talks, which succeeded in reaching a deal to form a new technocrat cabinet of no more than 24 ministers.
But numerous obstacles prevented the implementation of the deal such as forming a new government and achieving permanent stability in southern Yemen.
The deal also included the return of the exiled Yemeni government to Aden and the unification of all military units under the authority of the country's interior and defense ministries.
The Saudi-brokered deal excluded the Iranian-backed Houthis who are still controlling the capital Sanaa and other northern provinces of the war-torn Arab country.
The impoverished Arab country has been locked in a civil war since late 2014 when the Houthi rebels overran much of the country and seized all northern areas including Sanaa.
