Yemen rebels to boycott UN envoy

Sana’a: Rebels who control the Yemeni capital Sana’a have said they will have no further dealings with a UN envoy who has conducted months of shuttle diplomacy with the Saudi-backed government.

The head of the rebel-installed Supreme Political Council, Saleh Al Samad, accused the envoy of bias and said he would no longer be allowed entry to rebel-held areas.

“We say unanimously that the envoy is no longer welcome here,” Samad said in a televised speech late Monday.

“There will be no more contact with Esmail Ould Shaikh Ahmad and he is not welcome here.”

Samad said the decision was taken jointly by Al Houthi rebels and their allies in the General People’s Congress of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh.

The rebels’ announcement comes after an abortive visit by the envoy to Sana’a last month in which he was mobbed by Al Houthi thugs and failed to secure any meetings with rebel representatives.

He had been trying to broker a ceasefire for the holy Muslim fasting month of Ramadan which began on May 27.

More than 8,000 people have been killed since an Al Houthi coup in 2014.

Saudi Arabia entered the war in 2015 leading a coalition of Arab states in order to restore the the legitimate government of Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi.