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WORLD NEWS Wednesday 13 June 2018

Exiled Yemen president goes to UAE as port attack looms

By JON GAMBRELL deida was imminent. medicine for a nation driv-
DUBAI, United Arab Emir- "The liberation of the city & en to the brink of famine by
ates (AP) — Yemen's exiled port will create a new re- the conflict and a Saudi-
president was due to visit ality & bring the Houthis to led blockade. The U.S. has
the United Arab Emirates the negotiations," he wrote. provided the coalition with
on Tuesday to patch up re- Earlier Tuesday, Yemeni logistical support, but it's
lations ahead of an antici- officials said the U.N. had unclear what position the
pated assault on the rebel- pulled its international staff Americans will take if the
held port of Hodeida. out of Hodeida, a crucial coalition launches a full-
President Abed Rabbo Red Sea port city now con- scale attack on Hodeida.
Mansour Hadi's trip to Abu trolled by the Houthis. The U.S. Secretary of State Mike
Dhabi comes amid months officials said the U.N.'s op- Pompeo said Monday he
of tensions between his erations center there was spoke with Emirati officials
forces and fighters backed still being manned by local and "made clear our de-
by the UAE, which have staff. The port is some 150 sire to address their security
clashed on a number of kilometers (90 miles) south- concerns while preserving In this Nov. 10, 2015 file photo, the President of Yemen Abed
occasions. Both are part of west of Sanaa, the rebel- the free flow of humanitari- Rabbo Mansour Hadi, participates in a summit of Arab and
the Saudi-led coalition that held capital. an aid and life-saving com- South American leaders in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
has been at war with Iran- The officials spoke on con- mercial imports."q Associated Press
allied Houthi rebels in Ye- dition in anonymity be-
men since 2015. cause they weren't autho-
The two sides were also at rized to brief reporters. The
odds over the recent de- aid group Oxfam said hu-
ployment of UAE forces to manitarian organizations
the Yemen's Arabian Sea received warnings over the
island of Socotra, a dispute weekend for staff to evac-
mediated by Saudi officials. uate Hodeida by Tuesday
Over 10,000 people have ahead of an offensive.
been killed in Yemen's civil The Norwegian Refugee
war. The Saudi-led coali- Council urged the United
tion has been criticized for States, Britain and France
its airstrikes killing civilians. to release "an immediate
Meanwhile, the U.N. and warning" against any at-
Western nations say Iran tack on the city or the port
has supplied the Houthis of Hodeida.
with weapons from assault It said troops, backed by
rifles up to the ballistic mis- the Saudi-led coalition are
siles they have fired deep now about eight kilometers
into Saudi Arabia, including (five miles) from the rebel-
at the capital, Riyadh. held Hodeida.
Yemen's government-con- On Thursday, the Interna-
trolled SABA news agency tional Committee of the
announced Hadi's trip, Red Cross said it had pulled
saying it came after Emi- 71 staff members out of Ye-
rati Foreign Minister Sheikh men after a series of secu-
Abdullah bin Zayed Al rity incidents and threats.
Nahyan visited him at his Before the war, over 70 per-
home in Riyadh, where he cent of Yemen's food and
lives in self-imposed exile. fuel imports came through
Emirati Minister of State for Hodeida, accounting for
Foreign Affairs Anwar Gar- over 40 percent of the na-
gash also wrote several tion's customs income. The
tweets Tuesday night sug- port remains crucial for
gesting an attack on Ho- incoming aid, food and