The Yemeni government and the Southern Transitional Council will officially sign a power share deal today in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, said the STC spokesperson.

The agreement will be jointly signed today in the presence of Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed, Yemeni president Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi and General Aidrous Al Zoubaid, the leader of the Southern Transitional Council, Nizar Haitham told The National.

“Signing the agreement, which is the fruit of long and relentless efforts exerted by our brothers in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, will be a turning point in the battle against the Houthi militia and a new stage towards strengthening relations between the Arab Coalition and the STC,” Mr Haitham said

A source in the STC said that the signing ceremony will be attended by the United Nations special envoy to Yemen, Martin Griffiths, and various ambassadors.

The Yemeni government welcomed the agreement, describing it as a path to a new stage in security efforts.

The Riyadh agreement includes 50 per cent STC representation in the government, which is supposed to be formed in few days after signing the deal. It also establishes the STC as an official partner of the Arab Coalition and gives it an effective role within the tripartite monitoring committee, which will be in charge of monitoring the implementation of the agreement.

“Under the deal, the Yemeni Prime Minister will return to Aden (from Saudi Arabia) to reactivate state institutions, and STC-allied forces will be placed under the government’s defence and interior ministries,” an anonymous said.

“All army divisions will be withdrawn from the main cities within two weeks after signing the deal, while other security forces under the government would remain.”

Saleh Al Homaidi, a deputy in the ministry of information in the Yemeni government, said the agreement is a road map for Yemen’s future. “All the parties are winners with the agreement, and the only loser is the Houthis,” Mr Al Homaidi said.

Yemeni minister of information, Moamar Al Eryani, praised the efforts exerted by Saudi Arabia to reach the deal.

“We highly appreciate the relentless efforts of our brothers in KSA to accomplish the agreement and work to unite the Yemenis against challenges, especially the Iranian threat and its proxy Houthis,” he wrote on Twitter.

The announcement came after an extraordinary meeting of the cabinet held on Monday and led by Yemen’s Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalik.