Yemen’s Hadi will not attend Geneva peace talks

Yemen’s President Abdrabbu Mansour Hadi will not be attending upcoming peace talks in Geneva after Houthi militias failed to satisfy a pre-condition of pulling out of cities they occupied, Al Arabiya News Channel reported.

Presidential spokesman Rageh Badi said Hadi had sent a letter to U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in which he outlined a series of guarantees he demanded be met before attending the talks.

While in favor of Thursday's talks, Hadi insisted the United Nations press the Houthis to pull back from regions they captured across Yemen, including the capital Sanaa, according to the official Saba news agency.

The leader demanded the full implementation of U.N. Security Council Resolution 2216.

The April resolution called on Houthi militias to relinquish territory they seized and surrender weapons they took from the army and other state institutions.

Separately, Saudi-led coalition airstrikes hit Houthi militias in the Al Hudeida airport on Saturday. Coalition warplanes also struck militias loyal to deposed leader Ali Abdullah Saleh, Al Arabiya reported.

Earlier on Friday, coalition warplanes struck the hometown of Saleh, a village in west-central Yemen, Al Arabiya News Channel reported late Friday.

Friday’s strikes targeted weapons depots in the village of Sanhan belonging to Houthis and Saleh-allied militias, who are fighting against forces loyal to exiled President Hadi.