Aden (South24 Center)

The Southern Transitional Council (STC) released a statement on Monday (December 22) describing remarks by Yemeni Deputy Foreign Minister Mustafa Noman about a possible alliance with the Houthi group as “implicit threats and blackmail against the Arab Coalition.” The STC warned that such remarks could “undermine the legal basis for the Arab Coalition’s intervention in Yemen.”

STC spokesperson Anwar Al-Tamimi said in the statement: “Mustafa Noman’s threats of an alliance with Iran’s arm in the region… do not merely represent a threat to Southerners, they are also implicit threats and blackmail against the Arab Coalition.” 

He added that these threats mean the readiness of “those so-called unionists” to “undermine the legal basis for the Arab Coalition’s intervention in Yemen, which is (ending the Houthi coup and restoring legitimacy to Sanaa).”

The statement argued that Noman “forgot” that the objectives of the Saudi-led “Decisive Storm” operation “were to end the Houthi coup and restore internationally recognized legitimacy to Sanaa, not to impose the form of the state or the final solution formula.”

Al-Tamimi further described Noman as the “diplomatic mufti,” saying that his remarks “are no less dangerous than the fatwas of those who previously declared the people of South as “infidels” and permitted their blood,” in reference to religious edicts issued against Southerners during the 1994 war.

In an interview with Saudi channel Al Arabiya on Monday, Noman had hinted at the possibility of an alliance between parties within the internationally recognized government camp and the Houthis under the slogan of protecting Yemeni unity. 

He said: “The unionists within the legitimacy camp, if they see legitimacy in danger… and if they see an opponent [the Houthis] who also believes that unity is in danger… what will they do? Could they not one day ally? In the end, such alliances are inevitable… and the separatists will find themselves facing everyone.”

Noman linked his remarks to steps taken by the STC after securing Hadramout and Al-Mahra governorates on December 3, and to announcements issued by ministries, government institutions, and governors in South Yemen stating that they had delegated their powers to STC President Aidrous Al-Zubaidi and supported his steps toward declaring a state in the South.

In its statement, the STC considered Noman’s remarks as “confirmation of the correctness of the Council’s approach” to take “military, security, administrative, and political measures” to secure “the geography of the South within the borders prior to the declaration of unity in 1990,” and rejected “the continuation of the state of penetration” which it said “has lasted too long.”

The internationally recognized Yemeni government has been engaged in war with the Houthis for years, while Saudi Arabia has led a military coalition in Yemen since 2015 in support of the government against the Houthis.