Yemen's ruling council names new cabinet after deadly clashes in the south

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CAIRO (AP) — The head of Yemen’s ruling leadership council has named a new cabinet, weeks after deadly clashes in the country's south and the dissolution of a separatist group.

The escalation has exposed cracks in a Saudi-led coalition fighting Iranian-backed Houthi rebels.

Rashad al-Alimi, head of the Presidential Leadership Council, announced the cabinet in a presidential decree published by the country’s state-run SABA news agency late Friday.

The 35-member cabinet is chaired by Prime Minister Shae’a al-Zandani, who also serves as foreign minister. It included only two women: Afrah al-Zouba, minister of planning and international cooperation, and Ahd Jaasous, state minister for women's affairs.

Maj. Gen. Taher al-Aqili was appointed defense minister and Maj. Gen. Ibrahim Haidan will lead the Interior Ministry. Both will oversee Saudi-backed efforts to dismantle militias of the separatist Southern Presidential Council, which is supported by the United Arab Emirates.

Yemen has been mired for more than a decade in a civil war that involves a complex interplay of sectarian and tribal grievances and the involvement of regional powers.

The Iran-aligned Houthis control the most populous regions in the north, including the capital Sanaa. Meanwhile, a loose regional coalition of powers — including Saudi Arabia and the UAE — has backed the internationally recognized government in the south.

The Southern Transitional Council is part of the anti-Houthi camp, but it seeks an independent state in southern Yemen.

In December, STC forces advanced into the provinces of Hadramout and Mahra, where they seized oil-rich areas and facilities and the presidential palace in the main southern city of Aden. They pushed out forces affiliated with the Saudi-supported National Shield Forces, another group aligned with the anti-Houthi coalition.

The Saudi-backed forces have since regained control of Hadramout, the presidential palace in Aden and camps in al-Mahra. The STC then announced its dissolution.

The escalation in southern Yemen in the past two months has rattled the Saudi-led coalition and brought long-muted tensions between Saudi Arabia and the UAE into the open. Saudi Arabi accused the UAE of supporting the separatists, and smuggling the STC leader, Aidarous al-Zubaidi, who is wanted for treason, out of Yemen and flying him to Abu Dhabi.

The Saudi-led coalition, which until recently had included the UAE, has fought to restore Yemen's government. The war has remained at a stalemate, and the rebels reached a deal with Saudi Arabia that stopped their attacks on the kingdom in return for an end to Saudi-led strikes on their territories.