Yemen's President Hadi heads to US for medical treatment

The head of Yemen's internationally-recognised government will stay in the US until the UN General Assembly meeting at the end of the month, according to officials.
1 min read
03 September, 2018
Yemen's President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi has lived in exile in Riyadh since 2015 [Getty]

Yemen's President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi has traveled to the United States to receive medical treatment.

A Yemen government source told Reuters that preparations were underway for Hadi, the head of the country's internationally-recognised government, to undergo treatment for a heart condition.

Hadi has lived in exile in Riyadh since the Iranian-aligned Houthi group captured the Yemeni capital in 2015.

A Saudi Arabia-led coalition intervened in Yemen's war in support of the Hadi administration.

Two Yemeni officials told Reuters that Hadi would stay in the United States until the United Nations General Assembly meeting at the end of September.

Meanwhile, UN-brokered peace talks will open in Geneva on Thursday, aiming to bring together the warring parties.

Both parties have confirmed they are sending high-level delegations to the talks, but officials say expectations of a breakthrough are low, with rival camps unlikely to meet face-to-face.

The conflict has killed more than 10,000 people since 2015 and triggered what the UN calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

Yemen's government has also been met with popular protests in its defacto capital of Aden over the weekend, with Yemenis enraged over soaring prices and a plummeting currency.

Demonstrators burned tyres and blocked main roads as residents called for civil disobedience.

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