Yemeni government accuses separatists of Aden restrictions

By Ahmed Elimam and Maha El Dahan

DUBAI, Jan 4 (Reuters) - Yemen's Saudi-backed government on Sunday accused UAE-backed southern separatists of cutting off the port city of Aden and warned it would "take all necessary measures" after recapturing territory from them in the east on Saturday.

The separatists denied having restricted movement into Aden, but the government accusations indicate that hostility between the sides persists despite proposals for a dialogue that had raised hopes of a negotiated solution to the crisis.

The conflict between the government and the Southern Transitional Council since early last month has triggered a major feud between the Gulf powers and fractured the coalition fighting Houthi forces.

The Iran-backed Houthis seized the capital Sanaa in 2014 and Gulf countries intervened the following year in support of the internationally recognised government, splitting Yemen into rival zones of control.

STRUGGLE FOR CONTROL OVER SOUTHERN YEMEN

The government, in a statement from the presidential office to official media, said the STC had taken measures to restrict movement of citizens into Aden and that it had also received reports of a campaign of arrests in the city.

The STC told Reuters it rejected the accusations, calling them a complete distortion of the facts, and said the situation in Aden was stable.

Reuters could not verify the accusations.

A senior government official told Reuters that forces would continue to advance towards Aden. Any dialogue would only begin once Aden was secured, the official said, without elaborating.

Aden has been the main seat of power outside Houthi-controlled areas since 2015 but leaders of the internationally recognised government left the city for Saudi Arabia early last month when the STC seized control.

On Saturday, as government forces said they had retaken Mukalla in the eastern province of Hadramout, residents of areas around Aden said STC fighters had put up checkpoints.

Meanwhile Aden airport closed on Thursday after a dispute over flights between the city and the UAE, with the STC and the government trading blame over which side had shut down air traffic. At least one flight took off on Sunday, travellers and airport officials said.

The U.S. embassy also said it had received reports of closures and redirected flights to and from the Yemeni island of Socotra.

The internationally recognised government said late on Friday it had asked Saudi Arabia to host a forum to resolve the southern issue. Riyadh said it would do so and extended invitations to southern factions.

The STC welcomed this late on Saturday, a potential sign that all sides now see negotiation as the eventual means of ending the brief conflict triggered early last month when the separatists suddenly seized swathes of territory.

Government forces backed by Saudi airstrikes on Friday and Saturday took back control of the strategically important Hadramout province in the east of Yemen.

(Reporting by Ahmed Elimam and Maha El Dahan; Writing by Angus McDowall; Editing by Andrew Heavens)