Saudi coalition calls for end to escalation in Yemen, immediate return to Riyadh agreement

A Saudi Arabia-led coalition said on Monday all parties need to return to the status that existed before the Southern Transitional Council (STC) in Yemen declared an emergency in Aden, according to a statement published by the kingdom's state-run news agency.

The coalition said any steps that contradict the Riyadh agreement should be canceled, and it called for an end to any escalation in Yemen.

On Sunday, the United Arab Emirates-backed STC announced the emergency rule in Aden and all southern governorates, a move which Yemen's foreign minister Mohammed Al-Hadhrami described as a "resumption of its (STC's) armed insurgency and rejection and complete withdrawal from the Riyadh agreement."