The Yemeni Houthi rebel movement is "playing games" as it keeps postponing the arrival of its delegation at the UN-backed talks in Geneva over fears for its safety, Hamza Alkamaly, Yemeni deputy minister of sport and a member of the government delegation, told Sputnik on Friday.
GENEVA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 07th September, 2018) The Yemeni Houthi rebel movement is "playing games" as it keeps postponing the arrival of its delegation at the UN-backed talks in Geneva over fears for its safety, Hamza Alkamaly, Yemeni deputy minister of sport and a member of the government delegation, told Sputnik on Friday.
On Wednesday, the Houthi delegation said they could not leave the city of Sanaa because they did not have permission from the Saudi-led coalition, which controls Yemeni airspace. However, the coalition on Thursday said it had cleared the delegation to leave.
"We believe that the Houthis are playing a game. They are not honest about coming to the consultations. We have made the date two months ago, and we have agreed on everything ... We believe they are trying to use the peace consultations as a tool to extract some Iranian and Hezbollah fighters from Yemen," Alkamaly said.
On Thursday, Yemeni Foreign Minister Khaled Hussein Alyemany accused the Houthi delegation of making excuses for failing to show up at the talks. Daifallah Shami, a member of the Houthis' politburo, told Sputnik on the same day that the rebels' delegation was ready to participate in talks, but needed the United Nations to ensure their safety.
Yemen is engulfed in an armed conflict between the government headed by Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi and the Houthi movement, also known as Ansar Allah. The Saudi-led coalition of mostly Persian Gulf nations has been carrying out airstrikes against the Houthis at Hadi's request since March 2015.
