Sana’a: Aides to Yemen’s embattled President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi say he has met with the UN envoy to the country for the first time since fleeing the rebel-held capital.
UN envoy Jamal Bin Omar has been struggling for months to resolve a crisis pitting Hadi against the Houthi rebels, who seized the capital in September and control much of the north. The rebels placed Hadi and his Cabinet ministers under house arrest in January, but Hadi was able to flee to the southern city of Aden earlier this month.
The UN Security Council says he remains Yemen’s “legitimate president.”
The officials spoke about Thursday’s meeting on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press. The UN and Gulf states have thrown their support behind Hadi, Yemen’s ousted president, and called on Al Houthi militia to stand aside for a transition plan.
The Security Council late on Wednesday called on all sides to settle their differences through “dialogue and consultation” amid fears Yemen is sliding towards civil war.
Hadi, who resigned last month after his residence was surrounded by Al Houthi fighters, escaped house arrest in Sana’a, the capital, and has resurfaced in the south. He has retracted his resignation and resumed his duties in Aden, formerly the capital of independent south Yemen.
Hadi seeks to rebuild a power base with loyal army units and tribal fighters, he rejected as “null and void” measures taken by the Houthis to start a transition on their own terms.
Al Houthis. swept into Sana’a last September after calling for greater power within the federal system, as well as control over a port.
The resolution to back Hadi comes amid concerns that sectarian conflict could threaten Yemen’s loose patchwork of political, religious and tribal groupings as Sunnis react to the Shiite power grab.
