DHAKA (12janu) : A UN Security Council delegation has begun a brief visit to Yemen in a clear boost to President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi aimed at helping to iron out problems hampering national reconciliation talks.
Thousands, meanwhile, took to the streets on the occasion of the visit on Sunday, demanding an end to the immunity given to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh who was eased out of office in February 2012 after three decades of rule following a UN-backed and Gulf-brokered deal.
The Security Council delegation, which includes the head and members of the top body, held talks with Hadi, state television said, adding that the team later went on to meet members of the government.
It termed the visit as ‘international support for Yemen to push political reconciliation as per the Gulf initiative’ which ended Saleh’s rule and nearly a year of bloodshed.
The trip comes as Sanaa struggles to organise a national dialogue conference that would result in a new constitution and presidential and parliamentary elections in February 2014, thereby ending the current two-year transition period.
The conference, originally set for mid-November, has been repeatedly delayed as some factions of the Southern Movement, which has campaigned for autonomy or secession for the formerly independent south, have refused to join the talks, reports theaustralian.com.
Anwar, head of News
