Yemeni president urges unity

SANAA, July 23, (AFP): Yemeni President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi called Wednesday for unity during a visit to the northern city of Amran, briefly seized by Shiite rebels in clashes with government forces and loyal tribes.

The capture on July 2 of Amran, just 50 kilometres (30 miles) north of Sanaa, by Huthi rebels threatened a federalisation plan that was agreed in February following national talks as part of a political transition.

The Huthis, also known as Ansarullah, pulled out few days later after reaching an agreement with the authorities, allowing government forces into the city.

“We have to turn a new page and realise that the age of conflicts and wars is over. Our homeland has suffered enough trouble over the past five decades,” Hadi said, addressing officials at the government complex in the city.

He called for “more cohesion and unity ... and to raise awareness of the danger of regional, sectarian and factious conflicts,” according to Saba state news agency.

The Huthis’ capture of the city was seen as part of a plan to push towards the capital and posed a challenge to the government which is also facing an Al-Qaeda threat and a separatist movement in the south. A destroyed car is seen on July 22 after a double suicide bombing on a military base in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi killed at least four soldiers, military and medical officials said. The two attackers, who detonated car bombs, targeted a Libyan army special forces barracks in the Bouatni

area of Benghazi, an army official told AFP. (AFP)