Yemen: Southern calls for independence underline differences in coalition

Since the Houthi coup of September 2014, internationally recognised President Abed Rabbou Mansour Hadi has had little to no authority within the country – and that situation is getting worse as leading figures in the Southern Transition Council (STC) gradually firm uptheir power. The STC had refrained from a formal call for independence, but on 21 January its chairman Aidarous Al-Zubaidi directly threatened Hadi’s rule in South Yemen, calling for his government to be replaced and his forces one week to leave the region.