Ansarullah vow to liberate southern Yemen on anniversary

A senior Ansarullah official says Yemen will liberate the country's south from the grip of separatists and aggressors led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Mahdi al-Mashat, the senior political leader of the popular resistance movement, made the remarks in a statement on the occasion of the 55th anniversary of the country’s independence from Britain.

He likened the situation in the area to the one that existed under the colonial era, urging its liberation, Yemen’s al-Masirah television network reported on Thursday.

Separatists in southern Yemen, backed by the United Arab Emirates, have called for secession of the restive port city of Aden and other southern provinces, controlled by officials of the country’s former Saudi Arabia-allied government.

The separatists want to revive the former South Yemen republic, which merged with the north in 1990. Aden, Yemen’s second largest city, used to be the capital of the once independent South Yemen.

Mashat said the Yemeni republic did not have any envoys at the United Nations, saying those alleging to be the country’s ambassadors at the UN were not representing Yemen.

However, the Ansarullah movement respects all efforts to resolve the country’s crisis, he added.

The official urged reconciliation based on mutual respect and demanded serious endeavors towards finding a clear and logical solution aimed at bringing different sides to the conflict back to the negotiating table.

The UN peace envoy Martin Griffiths has been trying to help re-launch the talks in Sweden. The negotiations have fallen apart on several occasions over the past years due to Saudi Arabia's constant violation of provisional ceasefires.

SS