(Bloomberg) --

Yemen’s internationally recognized government and southern separatists agreed on a mechanism proposed by the Saudis, aimed at closing one front in the five-year conflict.

The proposal would accelerate the implementation of the Riyadh agreement the two sides reached last November, the official Saudi news agency SPA reported.

The proposed mechanism includes maintaining the cease-fire and de-escalation between the two sides. It also calls for the separatist Southern Transitional Council to announce that it is abandoning self-administration and resuming the implementation of last November’s agreement. Al-Arabiya news service reported the STC announced it’s abandoning self-administration.

Yemeni president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi has named Ahmed Lamlas, an official from the Southern Transitional Council as Aden governor and asked Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalik Saeed to form a new government, shortly after the agreement was reached, al-Arabiya television reported.

According to the agreement, the Yemeni prime minister would form a “government of political competencies” with equal representation from north and south Yemen within 30 days and including representatives of the Southern Transitional Council, SPA said.

Saudi Arabia’s deputy defense minister, Khalid bin Salman, praised the agreement in a tweet.

As part of the plan, a governor and security director for Aden Governorate would be appointed, and the Yemeni prime minister would be assigned the task of forming a “government of political competencies” with equal representation from north and south Yemen within 30 days and including representatives of the Southern Transitional Council, SPA said.

Military forces, according to SPA report, should exit Aden Governorate and the forces of the two parties in Abyan should be separated and return to their previous positions.

The internationally recognized government has also been fighting the Iran-backed Houthi rebels, who were not a party to the Riyadh agreement.

(Updates with fresh detail in 4th, 5th paragraph)

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