Yemen government denies requesting Al-Houthi and Saleh be banished

A high ranking Yemeni official has denied rumours that President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi has requested Houthi leader Abdulmalik Al-Houthi and ousted President Ali Abdullah Saleh be exiled.

Hadi’s presidential advisor to told Saudi newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat: “We did not speak about this and we refuse such request. We said that their presence is a threat and their departure is also a threat.”

Instead, Yassin Makkawi said the Hadi government requested that Al-Houthi and Saleh “be trialled as war criminals” for orchestrating the coup of September 2014.

For months, the Yemeni government has been criticising the UN over its roadmap to peace for Yemen. It consists of creating a unity government between the Hadi government, Ali Abdullah Saleh and the Houthis. To the Hadi government, this would fundamentally undermine UN Security Council Resolution 2216.

“There are question marks on all efforts exerted outside the framework of the UN and those efforts are therefore considered as playing with wasted time particularly as the Yemeni government has not participated in them. Any plan that does not end the coup would not be accepted,” Makkawi said