Egypt blocks Geneva-bound Yemen plane from entering airspace

Rasa - The plane carrying the representatives of Yemen’s political factions, including those of the Houthi Ansarullah movement, to attend the UN-brokered talks in the Swiss city of Geneva has not arrived in its destination yet due to Egypt's refusal to allow them to enter its airspace.

News ID: 2742

Date: 15 June 2015 - 14:42

RNA - The delegation left the Yemeni capital, Sana’a, on Sunday afternoon, but was forced to have a long stop in Djibouti.

Egyptian authorities have reportedly not allowed the plane to cross the country's airspace due to the Saudi pressure.

According to reports, two other Houthi representatives were also expected to arrive in Geneva from Oman.

The negotiations aimed at ending the deadly conflict in the Arab country were supposed to start in Geneva early on Monday with Yemeni political factions and former regime officials in attendance.

UN spokesman Ahmad Fawzi on Sunday called on all parties involved in Yemen’s conflict to observe a renewed “humanitarian pause” due to Saudi Arabia's incessant airstrikes on the impoverished country.

Sources have confirmed Yemen’s fugitive former president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, will attend the meeting.

The talks brokered by UN special envoy for Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed aim to secure a ceasefire, and accelerate the delivery of humanitarian aid to the war-racked Yemeni people.

The UN envoy said that the talks will be the beginning of “preliminary inclusive consultations” to find a solution to the conflict that has claimed more than 2,500 lives and triggered a “catastrophic” humanitarian crisis.

In a statement issued early July, the UN urged all Yemeni parties “to engage in these consultations in good faith and without preconditions in the interest of all Yemeni people.”

However, the meeting, which was initially scheduled for May 28, was delayed after Hadi refused to attend the negotiations.

The Un-brokered peace talks come as Saudi Arabia continues its military aggression against the Yemeni people.

Riyadh launched a military campaign against its impoverished neighbor on March 26 – without a UN mandate- in an attempt to undermine the Houthi revolutionaries and restore power to Hadi, who is a staunch ally of Saudi Arabia.

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