Drone strike hits Marib hours after Yemen president's arrival
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"Four al-Qaeda members were wounded when a US drone targeted a car they were travelling in Jabul, east of Marib city," an anonymous tribesman told Reuters.
Hadi landed in Marib along with his Vice President, General Ali Mohsen al-Amar among other officials on Sunday, to lead an operation to recapture the capital from the rebels, Saudi media claimed.
In comments made upon arrival in Marib, the premier refused to reconvene in Kuwait following a two-week break "if the United Nations tries to impose the latest proposal by mediator Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed".
Read more here: Yemen's President Hadi threatens to boycott UN-sponsored peace talks |
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Two months of UN-sponsored negotiations have failed to solve the conflict [The New Arab] |
Hadi maintained his position accusing the rebels of using the UN-sponsored Kuwait talks to "legitimise their coup d’état", and rejected the UN proposal for a unity government.
"The UN has tried to convince us to form a coalition government. We said we would issue a statement declaring our boycott of the Kuwait consultations," Hadi said.
"The Yemenis will not allow Yemen to be turned into a Persian state," he insisted, referencing Iran's support of the rebel group, while vowing to recapture Sanaa "soon".
Despite a Saudi-led military intervention launched last year in support of Hadi's government, the rebels and their allies remain in control of swathes of territory including the capital Sanaa.