Yemen's Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalik (C) is interviewed upon his arrival at Aden's International Airport, Yemen, on Nov. 18, 2019. Yemen's Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalik and other ministers and government officials arrived on Monday in the country's southern port city of Aden. (Xinhua)
ADEN, Yemen, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Yemen's Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalik and other ministers and government officials arrived on Monday in the country's southern port city of Aden.
Their return came as part of the implementation of the Saudi-brokered power-sharing deal between the Yemeni warring factions.
Local officials at Aden's International Airport confirmed to Xinhua that "a Saudi airplane carrying the prime minister and ministers of telecommunications, finance, higher education, electricity, and religious endowments landed at the airport."
They said that several other officials of the country's government accompanied the Yemeni prime minister who came back from Saudi Arabia's capital of Riyadh.
Heavy security forces backed by armored vehicles were deployed around the airport of Aden before their arrival.
Other sources said that the prime minister and the officials will move instantly to the Presidential Palace in Aden upon their arrival.
The arrival of the Yemeni government officials will pave the way for de-escalation and revival of the state institutions in Aden after signing the power-sharing deal with the Southern Transitional Council (STC).
In August, forces loyal to the Aden-based STC engaged in intense street fighting with the government forces over the control of Aden and other neighboring southern provinces.
The STC seized all the state institutions after defeating the Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces during Aden's battles.
Saudi Arabia persuaded the STC and Yemen's government to hold reconciliation talks, which succeeded in reaching a deal to form a new technocrat cabinet of no more than 24 ministers earlier this month.
The main points of the deal also included the return of the exiled Yemeni government to Aden, and the unification of all military units under the authority of the ministries of interior and defense.
The Saudi-brokered deal excluded the Iranian-backed Houthis who are still controlling the capital Sanaa and other northern provinces of the war-torn Arab country.
The impoverished Arab country has been locked in a civil war since late 2014, when the Houthis overran much of the country and seized all northern areas including Sanaa.
