Yemen’s southern leader renews calls for separate state at UN

By DAVID BILLER
Associated Press

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The president of Yemen’s Southern Transitional Council said in an interview that he will prioritize the creation of a separate country in negotiations with their rivals, the Houthi rebels. Aidarous al-Zubaidi’s comments on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly come days after the conclusion of landmark talks in Riyadh between the Houthi rebels and Saudi Arabia, which leads a coalition fighting them in the country’s civil war. The remarks signal that his group might not get on board for a solution without inclusion of a separate state’s creation. The transitional council is an umbrella group of heavily armed and well-financed militias.