ADEN, Yemen, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Yemen's government and the opposition Southern Transitional Council (STC) on Tuesday began repositioning their troops stationed in the country's southern provinces, according to a Saudi-brokered deal signed in Riyadh last November.
An official of Yemen's government told Xinhua on condition of anonymity that "the army forces backed by several armored vehicles began a gradual withdrawal from the southern province of Abyan."
"All the army units that were attempting to enter Aden left their sites and immediately came back to the previous positions in the northern Marib province," the source said.
Under the supervision of a Saudi military committee, the STC's military units that were mobilized to confront the government forces also started a gradual withdrawal from Abyan province.
A source of the Aden-based STC confirmed to Xinhua that "Saudi commanders held a series of meetings with the local leaders of the military units in Abyan and succeeded in convincing them to begin redeployment of forces."
He said that "a number of military units linked to the STC left their bases in Abyan and headed directly to the country's western coast areas to confront Houthis there."
According to the arrangements of the Riyadh deal, both forces loyal to Yemen's government and the STC would be deployed in areas that are witnessing confrontation with the Houthi rebels.
Saudi Arabia that sponsored the reconciliation consultations is still trying to end the tense situation that has been escalating between its local allies based in the southern regions of the Arab country.
On Jan. 9, Yemen's government signed a new agreement with the Aden-based STC to implement the Saudi-brokered deal signed last November in Riyadh, including withdrawing all military forces from Aden.
With direct supervision from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), representatives of the STC and the country's government reached an agreement to withdraw forces from Aden within three weeks.
The new agreement specified a deadline of 20 days, starting from Jan. 11, to withdraw all the STC's military units and government forces stationed in the country's southern regions, including Abyan and Shabwa, but nothing went as planned.
Last year, Saudi Arabia persuaded the STC and the Yemeni government to hold reconciliation talks, which succeeded in reaching a deal to form a new technocrat cabinet of no more than 24 ministers.
But numerous obstacles prevented the implementation of the deal such as forming a new government and achieving permanent stability in southern Yemen.
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 country's interior and defense ministries.
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 Houthi rebels overran much of the country and seized all northern areas including Sanaa.
