Former South Yemen President supports ‘Op Decisive Storm’

The former president of South Yemen called on Monday for the Saudi-led coalition to intensify its air strikes against the Iran-backed Shiite Houthi rebels and militias of the deposed leader Ali Abdullah Saleh.

In an interview with sister channel Al Hadath, Yemeni politician Ali Salem al-Beidh said Southern Yemenis will continue to fight the Houthis and Saleh’s militias adding that Southern Yemenis’ position concerning the conflict is “clear.”

Al-Beidh was the general secretary of the Yemeni Socialist Party in the former South Yemen. Upon Yemen’s unification in 1990, al-Beidh became vice president in deposed President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s government.

Three years later, al-Beidh quit his office and returned to Aden, the former southern capital claiming Saleh’s government was marginalizing the south.

In 2009, he declared himself the leader of the southern separatist movement, Al Harak, which called for the re-establishment of a separate South Yemen.

Since the Saudi-led military campaign was waged against the militias last month, Aden has been a battlefield between the Houthis and Popular Resistance forces that are allied to legitimate President Abdrabbu Mansour Hadi.

Saudi Arabia is leading a 10-state coalition to combat the Houthi’s advancement of Yemen in support of the country’s legitimate President Hadi and his government.

Last week, the Arab League vowed that “Operation Decisive Storm” would continue until the Houthis would surrender.

The Houthis and Saleh-allied militias seized power in the capital Sanaa in February and last month advanced on the port city of Aden, Hadi’s stronghold, forcing him to go into exile and prompting the Saudi-led airstrikes against the rebels.