SANAA: Yemen's influential former president urged his rebel allies Friday to heed UN demands to withdraw from territory seized in months of fighting so Saudi-led air strikes can end and reconciliation begin.
Ali Abdullah Saleh, who still holds sway over army units allied with Huthi rebels who now control large swathes of the country, had welcomed this month's Security Council resolution as a way to "stop bloodshed" in Yemen.
More than 1,000 people have been killed in the fighting since late March, according to the United Nations, which said on Friday at least 115 children were among the dead.
Saleh, in a statement read on his Yemen Today television channel, said: "I call on (the Huthis) to accept all UN Security Council decisions and to implement them in return for a halt in the coalition forces' aggression."
"I urge them and everyone -- militias and al Qaeda as well as militias loyal to (President Abedrabbo Mansour) Hadi -- to withdraw from all provinces, especially Aden," the main southern city where fighting has raged between rival forces.
US Secretary of State John Kerry Friday urged the rebels to come to the negotiating table and end the unrest in the Gulf nation.
"This has to be a two-way street," he told reporters, adding: "We need the Huthi and we need those that can influence them to make sure that they are prepared to try to move... to the negotiating table."
Comments
Comments are closed.