Yemeni President Calls for Peace Meeting

Yemen’s president has called for a peace meeting among political forces to discuss his country’s war that will include former associates of a powerful ally of the Houthis, a move that could bolster the ranks of opponents of the Iranian-allied force. Mukhtar al-Rahbi, press secretary at President AbdRabbu Mansour Hadi’s office, said neither the Houthis nor their influential allies, former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, were expected to attend the gathering, to be held in Saudi Arabia.

But individuals who recently broke with Saleh, who has the loyalty of large sections of the factionalised military, would be there, he said. “The Houthis and Saleh will not attend, but leaders of the General People’s Congress party who have broken away from Saleh, will attend,” Rahbi told Reuters, referring to a political party led by the former veteran leader.

The talks, which would bring together southern separatists and northern political parties, are aimed at forging common ground among opponents of the Houthis that would be used in any future dialogue with the Shi’ite Muslim group, officials in Hadi’s administration in exile said.

At stake is an attempt to end six weeks of Saudi-led military strikes that have caused hundreds of civilian casualties and added further hardships to an existing humanitarian crisis by imposing a naval blockade.

Opponents of the Houthis see the group as a proxy force for Shi’ite Iran, extending Tehran’s interest in the area. Yemen has sunk deeper into crisis since the Houthis captured the capital Sanaa in September citing their exclusion from the government and an intention to fight corruption in the country.

Hadi and his government in exile in Riyadh say they will talk to the Houthis and Saleh if the Shi’ite Muslim group quits cities it had seized since last September, particularly the port of Aden, and lay down their arms. For their part, the Houthis say they will talk only if the air strikes stop completely.

U.N.-sponsored talks ended without agreement in March when the Houthis marched towards Hadi’s Aden stronghold and the Saudi-led alliance commenced air strikes. Saudi King Salman, presiding at a meeting of Gulf Arab heads of state, announced establishment of a center to coordinate humanitarian assistance.