Yemen rebels snub govt, want talks with Saudis
AFP
AFP, GENEVA: Iran-backed Yemeni rebels on Tuesday accused Saudi Arabia of trying to sabotage UN peace talks in Geneva and ruled out negotiations with the exiled government saying it lacked legitimacy.
The rebels were finally set to join proximity talks on Tuesday afternoon as they arrived a day late after being stranded in Djibouti -- a fact they blamed on Riyadh.
But rebel negotiating team member Mohammed Zubairi defiantly told reporters, We refuse any dialogue with those who have no legitimacy.
He said they instead wanted talks with Saudi Arabia, which has been leading an aerial campaign against the rebels since March 26, to stop the aggression.
The United Nations is desperately trying to get the rebels, who control a large swath of territory including the capital Sanaa, and the internationally recognised government to agree to a badly-needed humanitarian truce.
A UN-chartered plane carrying the rebels had left Sanaa on Sunday afternoon but was forced to wait in Djibouti for nearly 24 hours, forcing them to miss Mondays opening of the talks and a meeting with UN chief Ban Ki-moon.
The rebels accused Egypt and Sudan of not allowing their plane to fly through their airspace.
It was Saudi Arabia which asked its allies to do so with the aim of torpedoing the negotiations, Adel Shujah, another member of the rebel team told AFP after arriving in Geneva.
He said they were able to travel on to Switzerland after the United States and Oman intervened.
Mohamed Abdel Salam, the spokesman for the Ansarullah rebel group, put up a post on Facebook thanking Oman for using its good offices to resolve the problem.
Oman is the only Gulf monarchy that has not joined the Saudi-led coalition fighting the rebels. Oman maintains good relations with both Iran and Saudi Arabia.
