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Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi won over two prominent secessionist leaders by giving them positions of power in the current government. In doing so, he redirected rebel interests to align with his fight against the Houthis and his predecessor, Ali Abdullah Saleh.
In return for renouncing their secession demands, in December Hadi appointed Aidroos al-Zubaidi governor of Aden, the administration's temporary capital, and named Gen. Shallal Ali Shayae police chief of Aden. The high-caliber leaders of the Southern Mobility Movement (SMM), one of the most active forces in south Yemen, had been demanding secession since 2007.
