The head of Yemen's internationally recognized government has called on separatists to withdraw from territories they they have recently captured in the southeastern parts of the country, according to the government-run news agency.

The secessionist Southern Transitional Council, STC, a group backed by the United Arab Emirates, this month seized most of the the provinces of Hadramout and Mahra, including oil facilities. The move raised fears that the relative calm in the country's stalemated civil war might be shattered.