The head of the Southern Transitional Council, in southern Yemen, Aidaroos Al-Zubaidi, said today, Tuesday, that the council’s failure to participate in the “joint declaration” consultations sponsored by the United Nations exempt it from “any obligations stipulated in this declaration.”

 Al-Zubaidi confirmed, while receiving in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, the United Nations envoy to Yemen, Martin Griffiths, that the Southern Transitional had not yet received any invitation to participate in the joint declaration consultations.

 He pointed to the danger of repeating the production of agreements in which representatives of the south do not participate in real terms.

 The head of the Southern Transitional Council stressed the need for real representation of the south, in all stages of the political process without exception, and the impossibility of any viable solutions without real and full representation of the south at the negotiating table.