President Al-Zubaidi Receives Ambassadors of Australia and New Zealand

President Aidarous Qassem Al-Zubaidi, the president of the Southern Transitional Council (STC) and deputy head of the Presidential Leadership Council (PLC), received at his residence in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, on Thursday, Mr. Mark Donovan, the ambassador of Australia, Mr. Barney Riley, the ambassador of New Zealand, and his senior foreign policy officer, Ms. Alicia Kotsapas.

At the beginning of the meeting, President Al-Zubaidi welcomed the ambassadors of the countries of Australia and New Zealand, praising the special bilateral relations that have existed between our country and these two countries, and the humanitarian aid they provide to our people in light of the humanitarian crisis they are experiencing as a result of the Houthi war.

President Al-Zubaidi expressed his aspiration to enhance bilateral cooperation with the Australian and New Zealand sides to boost the deteriorating economy of our country by increasing training and qualification opportunities for local employees in the agricultural and fisheries sectors.

The meeting discussed the political, military, and humanitarian developments in our country and the endeavours made by the UN special envoy, the American envoy, and the ten countries sponsoring peace in Yemen. In the same context, President Al-Zubaidi affirmed the keenness of the PLC to achieve a successful, just, and lasting peace that complies with the de facto outcomes on the ground.

The meeting, too, touched on the progress made by the Southern Armed Forces in the war in combating terrorist organizations in the southeastern governorates through the military operations "Arrows of the East" and "Arrows of the South."

In turn, the ambassadors of Australia and New Zealand reaffirmed the support of their governments for the PLC and its efforts to achieve a just peace, end the war, and revive the deteriorating economy, praising the great victories achieved by the Southern Forces in their war on terrorism and the exceptional tasks they perform to protect international shipping lines in the Gulf of Aden, the Red Sea, and al-Mandab strait.