#shiite rebels

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SANAA, Yemen | Yemen peace talks uncertain as rebels fail to attend

SANAA, Yemen — The United Nations-mediated peace talks on Yemen have stalled pending the arrival of the Shiite rebels who said they didn’t attend because they were not guaranteed safe return after the discussions.

The talks, meant to be the first between Yemen’s warring parties in two years, were scheduled for Thursday in Geneva. A delegation from Yemen’s internationally recognized government headed by Foreign Minister Khaled al-Yamani arrived but the rebels, known as the Houthis, have not.

The Houthis insist on traveling to Geneva on an Omani flight, saying it would ensure their safe return to Yemen.

“We want guarantees on our return to Yemen,” senior Houthi official Deif Allah al-Shami said Friday.

On Thursday, senior rebel official Mohammed Ali al-Houthi said on Twitter that the Saudi-led coalition backing Yemen’s internationally recognized government refused to grant the Omani flight authorization to transfer their delegation to Geneva. He said the refusal raises the risk of being prevented from returning to Yemen as happened in 2016 after a failed round of talks.

The coalition, which has imposed a land, sea and air blockade on Yemen since 2016, denied the allegation.

The official SABA news agency carried a Yemeni government statement on Friday blaming the Houthis for hindering the talks and saying their failure to attend shows “their intention to thwart any steps taken by the U.N. envoy to bring peace and alleviate the suffering of the Yemeni people.”

The U.N. special envoy for Yemen, Martin Griffiths, held consultations with Yemen’s government delegation on “confidence-building measures including the issue of prisoners, humanitarian access, the reopening of Sanaa airport in addition to economic issues,” U.N. spokeswoman Alessandra Vellucci said Friday.

“The special envoy for Yemen also met with diplomats and is still working on getting the Ansar Allah delegation (Houthis) to Geneva,” she said.

Yemen has been embroiled in a war pitting the Saudi-led coalition backing the government of Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi against the Iran-aligned rebels since March 2015. Saudi-led airstrikes have hit schools, hospitals and wedding parties and killed thousands of Yemeni civilians. The Houthis have fired long-range missiles into Saudi Arabia and targeted vessels in the Red Sea.

An estimated 10,000 people have been killed in Yemen’s conflict, which has spawned what the U.N. calls the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

New Post has been published on https://is.gd/IwI7YW

SANAA, Yemen | Yemen peace talks uncertain as rebels fail to attend

SANAA, Yemen — The United Nations-mediated peace talks on Yemen have stalled pending the arrival of the Shiite rebels who said they didn’t attend because they were not guaranteed safe return after the discussions.

The talks, meant to be the first between Yemen’s warring parties in two years, were scheduled for Thursday in Geneva. A delegation from Yemen’s internationally recognized government headed by Foreign Minister Khaled al-Yamani arrived but the rebels, known as the Houthis, have not.

The Houthis insist on traveling to Geneva on an Omani flight, saying it would ensure their safe return to Yemen.

“We want guarantees on our return to Yemen,” senior Houthi official Deif Allah al-Shami said Friday.

On Thursday, senior rebel official Mohammed Ali al-Houthi said on Twitter that the Saudi-led coalition backing Yemen’s internationally recognized government refused to grant the Omani flight authorization to transfer their delegation to Geneva. He said the refusal raises the risk of being prevented from returning to Yemen as happened in 2016 after a failed round of talks.

The coalition, which has imposed a land, sea and air blockade on Yemen since 2016, denied the allegation.

The official SABA news agency carried a Yemeni government statement on Friday blaming the Houthis for hindering the talks and saying their failure to attend shows “their intention to thwart any steps taken by the U.N. envoy to bring peace and alleviate the suffering of the Yemeni people.”

The U.N. special envoy for Yemen, Martin Griffiths, held consultations with Yemen’s government delegation on “confidence-building measures including the issue of prisoners, humanitarian access, the reopening of Sanaa airport in addition to economic issues,” U.N. spokeswoman Alessandra Vellucci said Friday.

“The special envoy for Yemen also met with diplomats and is still working on getting the Ansar Allah delegation (Houthis) to Geneva,” she said.

Yemen has been embroiled in a war pitting the Saudi-led coalition backing the government of Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi against the Iran-aligned rebels since March 2015. Saudi-led airstrikes have hit schools, hospitals and wedding parties and killed thousands of Yemeni civilians. The Houthis have fired long-range missiles into Saudi Arabia and targeted vessels in the Red Sea.

An estimated 10,000 people have been killed in Yemen’s conflict, which has spawned what the U.N. calls the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

Yemeni troops attack al Qaeda militants, 26 die in battle

Yemeni security officials say pro-government forces attacked al Qaeda militants in the country’s south, killing 15 jihadis but losing 11 of their own troops. The officials say the fighting began when security forces, backed by the Saudi-led coalition that is fighting Yemen’s Shiite rebels elsewhere in the country, on Tuesday attacked an al Qaeda stronghold in the Marakasha mountains in Abyan…

Airstrike at police facility in Yemen, 20 killed

An airstrike by the Saudi-led coalition targeted a building used by police in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, killing at least 20 people and wounding about 15, Security officials said on Monday. The officials, who are loyal to anti-government Shiite rebels known as the Houthis, say several people are believed to be still trapped under the debris. The dead and wounded were policemen and Houthi rebels,…

“SANAA, Yemen — Yemen’s embattled president fled his Aden home Wednesday for an undisclosed location as Shiite rebels neared his last refuge, five officials told The Associated Press.”   http://time.com/3757650/president-flees-yemen/

The United States, Britain and France said Wednesday they were closing their embassies in Yemen following Shiite rebels seizing power there, highlighting the turmoil gripping the country as it marked the fourth anniversary of toppling its longtime autocratic ruler.

Thousands of protesters demonstrated Friday across Yemen, some supporting the Shiite rebels who seized the capital and others demanding the country's south secede after the nation's president and Cabinet resigned.