Yemeni President urges ‘national alignment’ with political forces

Houthis demand apologies for alleged human rights abuses in 2004 Yemen’s President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi has called on national factions to demonstrate their “strong national alignment” during a round of meetings with international diplomats .
President Hadi made the calls amid meetings with British and Moroccan ambassadors, as well as the UN’s envoy to Yemen, Jamal Bin Omar, the state-owned Saba news agency reported on Thursday.
Diplomats reportedly reviewed international assistance for Yemen’s national dialogue process, “which is considered the essential basis of change," Hadi said.
The President meanwhile called on all social, political and cultural forces in Yemen to demonstrate “strong national alignment” which, he added, “is vital to complete our great achievement.”
Thousands of Yemen’s Shiite Muslims, affiliated with the Houthis group, meanwhile condemned President Hadi following his alleged refusal to allow Shiite Muslims to perform a ceremony in honour of the Prophet Mohammed’s birthday.
Houthis, who control Sadaa and other large areas of northern Yemen, celebrated the occasion in Saada and Sanaa, after state authorities refused to let them hold their celebration in Sanaa’s sports stadium.
Al-Houthi urged the Yemeni government to consider the faction’s demands ahead of national dialogue talks.
Throughout Yemen’s transitional period, Houthis have demanded official apologies from the government for alleged human rights abuses committed by the army during the Saada war in 2004, under former President Ali Abdullah Saleh.