Yemeni President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi on Saturday called on the Southern Transitional Council (STC) to "stop the bloodshed" and abide by the Riyadh Agreement, in his first public comments since the secessionists declared autonomy in April.
"I call on the so-called Southern Transitional Council... to return to the path of the Riyadh Agreement and stop the bloodshed," Hadi said during a meeting on Saturday with high-level government officials, referring to a power-sharing deal for the south struck last November that quickly became defunct.
The Riyadh accord's implementation "has long faltered due to continuous escalatory activities, including the announcement of self-rule and the rebellion witnessed in Socotra", Hadi said.
"Resorting to arms and force for personal gains... will not be accepted."
Earlier this week, a Saudi-led Arab coalition said it had deployed observers to monitor a ceasefire between pro-government troops and STC announced two days earlier.
Saudi forces arrived Wednesday in Shaqra and Sheikh Salem, two flashpoints in southern Yemen's Abyan province, to monitor that truce, military sources said.
The government and STC are due to hold further talks in Saudi Arabia to discuss the truce, coalition spokesman Turki al-Malki said this week.
