Yemen's President Hadi threatens to boycott UN-sponsored peace talks

Video: Yemen's premier has vowed to boycott the Kuwait-based peace talks if the UN envoy insists on including Houthi rebels in the planned roadmap.
2 min read
10 July, 2016
Yemeni President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi has threatened to boycott negotiations with the Houthis in Kuwait, if the UN envoy insists on a roadmap involving the rebels.

In comments made upon arrival in Marib, the premier refused to reconvene in Kuwait following a two-week break "if the United Nations tries to impose the latest proposal by mediator Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed".

Hadi maintained his position accusing the rebels of using the UN-sponsored Kuwait talks to "legitimise their coup d'etat", and rejected the UN proposal for a unity government.

"The UN has tried to convince us to form a coalition government. We said we would issue a statement declaring our boycott of the Kuwait consultations," Hadi said.

"The Yemenis will not allow Yemen to be turned into a Persian state," he insisted, referencing Iran's support of the rebel group, while vowing to recapture Sanaa "soon".

Hadi landed in Marib along with his Vice President, General Ali Mohsen al-Amar among other officials on Sunday, to lead an operation to recapture the capital from the rebels, Saudi media claimed.

Talks between Hadi's Saudi-backed government and the Houthi rebels are scheduled to resume on Friday after a two-week break marking Eid festivities.

The negotiations have remained stagnant despite more than two months of going back and forth as both sides refuse to look pass "fundamental differences".

Ould Cheikh Ahmed has urged both sides to make concessions to end the conflict, which has cost more than 6,400 lives since March 2015 and displaced 2.8 million people.

He has put forward a peace roadmap that would see the formation of a unity government and the withdrawal and disarmament of the rebels.

Meanwhile, Houthis conditioned their withdrawal on both sides agreeing on a new president to manage the transition.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Sunday met the two delegations in Kuwait City and urged them to accept the roadmap.

Despite a Saudi-led military intervention launched last year in support of Hadi's government, the rebels and their allies remain in control of swathes of territory including the capital Sanaa.