Abu Dhabi (South24)

STC's President, Aidarous Al-Zubaidi said that the nature of the future state in South Yemen will be determined by Southern people through a referendum, according to television statements.

In an interview with the Saudi Channel "Al Hadath", he added that “the STC's project is clear, and we have the right to announce it any time we see fit”. 

"Unless the KSA and our pledges to it, we would have announced our political project directly and made it a reality. We will continue sticking by our covenant with the Arab Coalition to achieve its goals" he added.

As for the nature of the project, Al-Zubaidi said that the STC's vision revolves around three options on the table that will be put to a referendum determined by the Southern people. The first option is to return to before 1990, while the second one is a federal state. The third option is the survival of Unity.

He criticized the Stockholm Agreement which “aimed to protect the Houthis after the Southern Giants Brigades were on the outskirts of Hodeidah" adding that the agreement is almost dead.

Al-Zubaidi called on the international community to include the Houthis in the list of terrorist organizations and to “confront their expanion pointing out that they act as   Iran's arm in the region and that their presence in Yemen threatens the Arab National Security”.

He said that the STC can't engage in negotiations with the Houthis after being designated as a terrorist organization.

He explained that the STC presented a plan to the Arab coalition that includes moving all military forces from the South to the fronts, while the Security Belt Forces will remain to provide security.

Al-Zubaidi stressed that the current military objectives of the southern forces are “to secure the Southern state and protect its land, but this does not prevent us from participating with the Coalition on other fronts.”

He accused the "Muslim Brotherhood" of obstructing any efforts to unify the Yemeni military establishment.

As for terrorism, Al-Zubaidi said: “we suffer from the overflow of terrorists from the Horn of Africa areas”. 

He called on the world and the region to provide support to establish Southern coast guard forces to counter these activities.

The STC’s President accused the Islah Party of deceiving the West through misinformation by claiming that elements belonging to AQAP and ISIS are affiliated with South Yemen.

“The Muslim Brotherhood, led by Yemeni Vice President designed the AQAP and ISIS to be in South only, and they kept sending reports to the Americans and West”.

Later, Al-Hadath TV deleted "Al-Zubaidi's statements" about the vice president's relationship with AQAP, from its official YouTube page, and then re-published the interview without it.

The STC’s President talked about the security situation in Aden adding that they face "Double terrorist organizations, and we do our best to establish security despite our little resources".

He praised the Emirati role in training the security forces in Aden.

Al-Zubaidi concluded that: “the UN role is very limited" pointing out that South Yemen suffers from a troubled economic situation and he called for providing urgent economic support and stopping the collapse of the local currency”.

- South24 Center

- Photo: STC