UN envoy in Aden to discuss roadmap with Yemen president

The UN special envoy for Yemen arrived in Aden on Thursday to discuss the country's roadmap with President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, a government official said.

The official, who requested anonymity, told Xinhua that the UN envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed arrived at Aden's airport and would hold a meeting at the Republican Palace with President Hadi and other ministers to discuss the roadmap and the latest developments in Yemen.

A government source close to Hadi told Xinhua "the government will submit a clear response letter to the UN envoy containing all the details and the unacceptable points in his roadmap."

Last month, Yemen's legitimate and internationally-backed government reaffirmed its strong refusal to the peace plan of the UN envoy who suggested the formation of a government with Shiite Houthi rebels.

Yemen's presidency office described "Ould Cheikh's roadmap as far from solving the crisis and its contents bare seeds of war in the country."

Hadi's government rejected any discussions with the Shiite Houthis and their allies about the future of the country's presidency.

The UN roadmap called for naming a new vice president after the withdrawal of the Shiite Houthi rebels from the capital Sanaa and other northern provinces, and handing over all heavy weapons to a third party.

The UN plan also suggested forming a new government that will be formed from the two-warring sides and would not be led by President Hadi who would transfer his power to the new vice president.

On Monday, the Houthis and allied forces of former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who occupied Sanaa and seized power militarily in late 2014, announced the formation of a 35-minister "national salvation government" in northern provinces.

The Houthi-Saleh alliance described the creation of the government in Sanaa as a very necessary step because of Yemen's "internal situation and confronting the Saudi aggression forces."

The UN envoy Ould Cheikh said in a statement on his official Twitter account that the announcement by Houthi-Saleh alliance the formation of a new government in Sanaa represents a concerning obstacle to the peace process.

The envoy condemned the move, saying that "such unilateral actions contradict the recent commitments provided to the UN and to United States Secretary of State John Kerry in Muscat."

Yemeni presidency in the south, as well as the Arab League and Gulf states rejected this illegal government which is considered as a violation of the United Nations Security Council's (UNCS) resolutions and would likely escalate the situation and exacerbate the people's suffering in the war-torn Arab country.

Yemeni political observers said that the recent unilateral government formation of the Shiite Houthi group diminishes chances for peace and derails settlement efforts in war-torn Yemen.

The situation in Yemen has deteriorated economically and politically since March 2015, when war broke out between the Shiite Houthi group, supported by former President Ali Abdullash Saleh, and the government backed by a Saudi-led Arab coalition.

Houthis and Saleh's forces hold most of Yemen's northern regions while government forces backed by Saudi-led military coalition share control of the rest of the country including seven southern provinces.

The civil war, ground battles and airstrikes have already killed more than 10,000 people, half of them civilians, injured more than 35,000 others and displaced over two millions, according to humanitarian agencies. Endit