Tuesday, August 25, 2020 / The Southern Transitional Council has sent an official letter to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as the sponsor of the Riyadh Agreement, between the Southern Transitional Council and the Yemeni government. The STC confirms in its message the suspension of its participation in the ongoing consultations to implement the agreement, noting that the suspension decision came due to the following reasons: 1. The continuing and increasing pace of military escalation by the forces affiliated with the Yemeni government in the governorate of Abyan, and their failure to comply with the agreed ceasefire. The forces have carried out more than 350 documented violations, resulting in a toll of more than 75 people between martyrs and wounded soldiers from the Southern Armed Forces since the declaration of the ceasefire on Monday, 22 June 2020. 2. The continuation of the military build-up operations towards the south, with significant participation of elements affiliated with Al-Qaeda and ISIS who got embedded within the Yemeni Government Forces in Abyan. 3. Ignoring the families of the martyrs or treating the wounded who gave their lives and blood for the cause of the South and the Arab project. 4. Delays in paying the pensions and salaries for several months, especially allocations for the military and security sectors, plus settling the status of military and civilian retirees. As well as the civil sector employees, particularly the teachers. 5. Forces affiliated with the Yemeni government continue to target civilians in Shabwa governorate, Hadramout Valley and Al-Mahrah, through systemic assassination, repression, arrests, enforced disappearances and torture inside prisons.