Thenational:Hadramout21
Yemeni President Abdrabu Mansur Hadi is to hold talks in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday amid reports that an offensive on Yemen’s rebel-held port city of Al Hodeidah was imminent
Mr Hadi is visiting the UAE on the advice of King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia, Yemen’s state-run news agency, Saba, reported
Mr Hadi had on Monday met with the UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed in the kingdom to discuss the flow of humanitarian aid to Yemen, according to Emirates’ Wam news agency
“The meetings will address the brotherly relations between Yemen and the UAE and the joint efforts pertaining to the Arab coalition, led by Saudi Arabia, to liberate remaining Yemeni territory from the control of the Houthi militia that is supported by Iran,” reported Saba
For the past two weeks, Yemen government troops — backed by the Arab coalition that intervened in the war at the request of the internationally-recognised government of Mr Hadi — have been closing in on Al Hodeidah, which the Houthi rebels have been using to smuggle weapons
Al Hodeidah, the country’s second largest port, also provides a lifeline for food, medicine and other vital supplies
UN chief Antonio Guterres met with Yemen’s foreign minister at UN headquarters in New York on Monday
Mr Guterres said his envoy Martin Griffiths was locked in “intense negotiations” with Yemen’s rebel Houthis, Saudi Arabia and the UAE to find a “way to avoid the military confrontation in Al Hodeidah”
During his meeting with Yemen’s new Foreign Minister Khaled Alyemany, Mr Guterres stressed that “everyone should redouble efforts to find a political solution and avoid a fierce, bloody battle for Al Hodeidah”, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said
The UN pulled all of its international staff out of Al Hodeidah early on Monday morning
Mr Griffiths held several rounds of talks last week in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa, which is held by the rebels
His efforts to convince the rebels to hand over control of Al Hodeidah to UN-supervised international forces had failed, according to reports
