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GCC invites Yemen's Houthis to Riyadh talks

March 12, 2015 at 2:04 pm

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) said on Thursday that the Shiite Houthi group had been invited to attend planned talks in Riyadh aimed at resolving Yemen’s political crisis.

“The invitation is open to all,” Qatari Foreign Minister Khaled Al-Attiyah, whose country holds the rotating GCC chairmanship, told a press conference following a GCC ministerial meeting.

“We hope all parties will participate to steer Yemen to safety,” he added.

Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi has proposed holding talks between the country’s rivals in Riyadh.

No date for the talks has been set.

Yemen has remained in a state of chaos since last September, when the Houthis took over capital Sanaa, from which they have since sought to extend their control to other parts of the country.

In February, the Houthis issued a constitutional declaration dissolving parliament and establishing a 551-member transitional council.

The declaration, however, was rejected by most of Yemen’s political forces – along with some neighbouring Gulf countries – which described it as a coup against constitutional legitimacy.