Saudi Invites Southern Yemen Factions to Riyadh Talks

Saudi Arabia has invited factions from southern Yemen to a comprehensive conference in Riyadh to address escalating tensions and the future of the region, as the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council announced plans for a two-year transitional phase toward potential independence.

The invitation, issued Saturday by the Saudi foreign ministry on behalf of Yemen's Saudi-backed Presidential Leadership Council, calls for all southern groups to gather and discuss fair solutions to longstanding disputes in the south. The move comes amid deadly clashes in the oil-rich Hadramawt province and neighboring al-Mahra, where the STC seized control of vast territories last month. These areas, which span nearly half of Yemen's land and border Saudi Arabia, have become a flashpoint in the country's fractured civil war.

The STC, which controls the southern port city of Aden, welcomed the Saudi proposal in a statement late Saturday, describing it as a positive step toward dialogue. However, the group reiterated its demand for a popular referendum on self-determination, insisting that any resolution must recognize the southern population's right to restore their pre-1990 independent state. STC...