Yemen separatist chief in Saudi Arabia for talks on Aden

The leader of southern Yemeni separatists has arrived in Saudi Arabia for talks aimed at ending a standoff in Aden port between the separatists and Yemen's Saudi-backed government, who had been nominal allies under the Arab coalition.

Saudi Arabia, the coalition leader, called for a summit after the separatists on Aug. 10 took over Aden, interim seat of the government, in a move that fractured the alliance. The ousted Yemeni government and coalition partner the United Arab Emirates traded blame over the crisis late Tuesday.

It was not clear if a delayed meeting involving both Yemeni sides would go ahead after the separatists extended their grip on the south on Tuesday by seizing government military camps in nearby Abyan.

The separatist fighters are part of the coalition that intervened in Yemen in March 2015 against the Houthis, who ousted President Abed Rabbou Mansour Hadi from power in the capital Sanaa in late 2014. His government rebased to Aden.

However, the UAE-backed separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC) has a rival agenda to Hadi's government, which has refused to participate in any talks unless the southern forces reverse what it calls a coup.