Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, President of Yemen (Photo: AP)
Yemen's President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi is ready to bring together the country's political factions, including Shiite militia, and a UN special envoy in a bid to defuse the country's mounting crisis, a presidential source said Wednesday.
The envoy, Moroccan diplomat Jamal Benomar, was in Qatar and due to travel to Yemen's capital Sanaa, the source said.
"The meeting will take place, but we are still waiting for Mr. Jamal Benomar to arrive," the source told AFP.
A UN official said Benomar was not expected to travel to Sanaa on Wednesday and could not give a date for his arrival.
The militia, known as Huthis, seized the presidential palace and attacked Hadi's residence this week in what officials denounced as an attempted coup.
Tensions have been rising in Sanaa since the Huthis overran the capital in September and boiled over this week after the militia kidnapped the president's chief of staff.
The presidential source said the meeting would include "all parties that are signatories to the peace and partnership agreement" inked on September 21, after the northern Shiite fighters entered the capital.
Hadi earlier Wednesday received Saleh al-Sammad, a representative of Huthi militiamen, at his residence in western Sanaa, the source said, adding that the president met with other advisors and tribal chiefs.
The source did not disclose details of what was discussed.
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