Yemen’s president delegated power to a presidential council and dismissed his deputy on Thursday in a move aimed at supporting U.N.-led efforts to revive negotiations to end the bitter seven-year war in the country.
Riyadh announced $3 billion in financial aid to the Saudi-backed government after the announcement by President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi. It called for talks with the Houthi group that controls the north and has been battling a Saudi-led coalition.
Yemen’s warring sides had in a major breakthrough agreed a two-month truce that began on Saturday, the first since 2016. The truce also eased a coalition blockade on areas held by the Houthis, who ousted Hadi’s government from the capital Sanaa in late 2014.
“I irreversibly delegate to the Presidential Leadership Council my full powers in accordance with the constitution and the Gulf Initiative and its executive mechanism,” Hadi, who is based in Riyadh, said on state television.
See also: UN Envoy Says He’s Concerned About Yemen Truce Violations