Saudi prevents Ansarullah from attending Geneva talks

Yemen's Ansarullah movement says the Saudi regime, which imposes restrictions on Yemen’s airspace, has banned its delegation from flying to attend peace talks brokered by the United Nations in Geneva.

According to Yemen’s al-Masirah television network, the UN could not "secure authorization" from the Saudi-led coalition.

The office of the UN special envoy for Yemen did not respond to media request for comment.

Representatives from Yemen’s running government, which is allied to the popular Ansarullah movement, and the country’s former regime, backed by Saudi Arabia, are to participate in the talks in the Swiss city on Thursday.

Martin Griffiths, the UN special envoy, will be supervising the talks and is likely to shuttle between the two sides as face-to-face meetings between them are unlikely.

Speaking at a press conference Wednesday on the eve of the talks, Griffiths said the upcoming "consultations" between the conflicting parties in Geneva offered a "flickering signal of hope."

"The people of Yemen ... are desperately in need of a signal of hope. We would like to think that the work we will do together in these next days will begin to send a flickering signal of hope to them.”

The UN official also said the talks would begin by trying to build trust between the two parties and substance will come later.

In a separate development, police on Wednesday shot and injured eight people who took part in protests in southern Yemen, which is largely controlled by Saudi mercenaries, against the rising cost of living, according to eyewitnesses and a security official.

Hundreds of people were protested in Mukalla, the provincial capital of Hadramawt, tearing down pictures of officials in the Saudi-led coalition, eyewitnesses said.

Clashes reportedly erupted between the demonstrators and the security forces.

SS