UN-sponsored talks between Yemen’s exiled government and Houthi forces are in doubt over the makeup of the delegations, while Saudi-led coalition airstrikes have continued in Yemen.
Officials at Sanaa International Airport said the UN plane meant to carry Houthi officials and their allies to Geneva had left empty on Saturday.
Representatives of the Houthis and former president Ali Abdullah Saleh’s General People’s Congress refused to board the plane because it was scheduled to stop off in Jizan, Saudi Arabia, a Houthi official said, DW reported.
A Houthi representative said they also objected to the idea of two separate delegations to the talks, one representing the exiled government, and one seen as representing a “coup.”
The UN said on Friday that the start of the talks would be delayed until Monday “due to unforeseen circumstances” delaying the arrival of one of the delegations.
This is while Yemeni security officials said six civilians were killed and dozens injured in Saudi-led air campaign in Sanaa on Saturday. The attacks appear to have targeted areas around the homes of two brothers and a nephew of Saleh.
The Saudi-led coalition began its airstrikes on March 26 in support of Yemen’s fugitive president Abd-Rabbuh Mansour Hadi, who fled to the Saudi capital, Riyadh, after Houthis took control of Aden.
The delegation representing the Hadi government reportedly arrived in Geneva Saturday morning, an official from his office said.
The World Health Organization said on Friday that 2,584 people had been killed in fighting in Yemen up to June 7. A further 11,065 had been wounded.
