Houthis rebels boycott peace talks with Saudi Arabia, Arab Coalition duly resumes air strikes across

[EmperorScorpious]

[quote]Yemen's Houthi fighters have boycotted a dialogue conference in the Saudi capital as the country's exiled president opened the three-day event aimed at tackling the lingering crisis.

[B]Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, Prime Minister Khaled Bahah and around 400 delegates gathered in Riyadh on Sunday, with leading factions including the Sunni Islah party, Socialists and members of former President Ali Abdullah Saleh's political party, the General People's Congress (GPC), in attendance.[/B]

[B]The Houthis, who control large swaths of the country, refused to attend the talks in Saudi Arabia, or any other nation involved in bombing the country, demanding talks be held in Yemen.[/B]

The rebels have long complained of marginalisation and have fought six wars with the central government between 2004 and 2010. Last year, they launched a sweeping advance from their northern stronghold, seizing the capital Sanaa in September, and have since tried to expand their control.

Speaking at the conference, Hadi made a defiant attack on the Houthis, before saying he was intent on returning to Sanaa, and wanted the international community to help put an end to the fighting.
"We look forward to building a federal Yemen that never excludes any party," he added.[/quote]

[url]http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/05/yemen-rebels-boycott-saudi-brokered-talks-150517073002128.html[/url]

[quote][B]Arab coalition nations have resumed air strikes against Houthi fighters in Yemen as a UN envoy called for an extension of a five-day humanitarian ceasefire that expired late Sunday.[/B]

The coalition targeted Houthi rebel positions in Al-Sawlaban and Al-Arish in Aden province, Saudi military officials said early on Monday.

Al-Masirah TV, a Houthi-backed channel, reported that Saudi troops were also shelling Al-Manzala district in Al-Dalih near the Yemen-Saudi border, in addition to Al-Ghawr mountain.

"I call on all parties to renew their commitment to this truce for five more days at least," UN envoy to Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed said earlier in Riyadh. "This humanitarian truce should turn into a permanent ceasefire."

His appeal followed clashes between rebels and pro-government forces across south Yemen on Saturday despite the truce, which has largely held since starting on Tuesday at 2000 GMT.

[B]The official Saudi Press Agency, meanwhile, reported that the UN envoy met Saudi chief of staff Lieutenant General Abdulrahman bin Saleh al-Bunyan and discussed "humanitarian aid efforts" in Yemen.[/B]

Aid groups have called for a lasting truce in the impoverished country, where a Saudi-led regional coalition has waged an air war Houthis and their allies since late March.

Yemeni political parties began talks on Sunday in the Saudi capital aimed at finding a solution to the crisis. But the Houthis stayed away from the meeting of some 400 delegates including President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, who has taken refuge in Riyadh.

Hadi repeated accusations that the rebels had staged a "coup".[/quote]

[url]http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/05/arab-coalition-resumes-yemen-air-strikes-truce-ends-150517214058987.html[/url]

[Sableye]

Well can't say that wasn't the expected response

[MissZoey]

Pissed in their own cornflakes a bit there.

[Awesomecaek]

That's some tough diplomacy right there