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Yemeni president urges political factions to resume dialogue

Xinhua, March 22, 2015 Adjust font size:

Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi on Saturday called on all political factions to return to dialogue amid fears that the country may slip to civil war.

In his first public speech broadcasted by Aden TV, Hadi asked all political parties to adhere to the Gulf Initiative and the outcomes of the national dialogue conference, which were agreed by those parties.

He fled house arrest by the Shiite Houthi group in Sanaa in late February and resumed presidential duties in the country's second biggest city of Aden.

He denied plans for secession and urged the Houthi militia to withdraw from state institutions in Sanaa.

The Houthi group took over control of Sanaa in September 2014 after deadly clashes with the army and security forces. On Feb. 6, the Houthi announced the formation of the presidential council and national council to replace the presidency and parliament, a move that was rejected by Yemen's political parties.

The Houthi group refused to recognize Hadi's legitimacy after he fled to Aden.

"I called upon the army and security forces to be committed to the legitimacy and the military honor, I called them to implement the legitimate instructions issued from us, the legitimate leadership, and to maintain the unity and legitimacy of our country," Hadi said in his speech, demanding that the Houthis should return all weapons they took from the army.

Meanwhile, Houthi spokesman, Mohammed Abdulsalam, said Hadi had lost legitimacy in a brief statement posted on the group's website.

Security sharply deteriorated in Yemen since early this month when conflicts erupted in several provinces in the country's southern regions.

The Islamic State carried out a series of suicide bombing attacks in Sanaa and the northern Saada province that have killed at least 154 people and wounded 350 others. Endit