Yemen government shuns talks, begins major military push

Al Aber

Yemen's exiled government backed out of UN-brokered peace talks as loyalist forces supported by a Saudi-led coalition launched a major offensive against Shia Huthi rebels on Sunday.

A military official said the offensive aimed to push the Iran-backed insurgents out of the oil-rich Marib province east of Sanaa and eventually move on the capital, which the rebels seized a year ago.

President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi's government, which has fled to Saudi Arabia, had said on Friday it would join UN-mediated talks this week in Oman.

But in a short statement overnight, Hadi's office said the government would not attend talks unless the rebels first accept a UN resolution demanding their withdrawal from territory they have captured.

The government decided "not to take part in any meeting until the militia recognises Resolution 2216 and agrees to implement it without conditions," the statement said.

The UN's special envoy for Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, had announced that both the government and the rebels agreed to attend talks in Oman, the only Gulf Arab state not in the Saudi-led coalition.

The United Nations has called repeatedly for a ceasefire in Yemen, which has been wracked by conflict since March when the coalition began air strikes against the rebels as they advanced on the southern city of Aden.

Hadi had fled to Aden after the rebels seized control of Sanaa to press their demands for a greater share of power in the Sunni-majority country.