ADEN, November 4th, 2016 : Thousands of Yemenis protested Thursday against a UN plan to end a 19-month conflict between rebels and the government, which the president rejected as “not a map for peace.”<\/p>\n
Protesters in Aden rallied against the plan following a call by authorities in the southern city, witnesses said.<\/p>\n
“We reject the plan of (UN special envoy Ismail) Ould Cheikh (Ahmed),” read one of the banners carried by demonstrators.<\/p>\n
“No to an initiative that legitimises the coup,” said another.<\/p>\n
President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi rejected on Saturday the envoy’s peace plan, saying it “only opens a door towards more suffering and war”.<\/p>\n
Hadi enjoys the backing of a Saudi-led Arab coalition that launched a military campaign in March 2015 after the rebels closed in on his refuge in Aden, forcing him to flee to Riyadh.<\/p>\n
The contents of the roadmap, which the envoy presented to the rebels on Tuesday, have not been made public.<\/p>\n
But informed sources say it calls for agreement on naming a new vice president after the rebels withdraw from the capital Sanaa and other cities and hand over heavy weapons to a third party.<\/p>\n
Hadi would then transfer power to the vice president who would appoint a new prime minister to form a government in which the north and south of Yemen would have equal representation.<\/p>\n
Hundreds of people rallied Thursday in Marib, east of Sanaa, and in the southeastern province of Hadramawt, witnesses said.<\/p>\n
Hadi said the new plan was an “explicit departure” from the UN Security Council’s resolution 2216, which calls on rebels to withdraw from territory they have captured since 2014.<\/p>\n
Iran-backed Huthi rebels said Sunday that a new UN peace plan was a “basis for discussion” despite containing “fundamental flaws”.<\/p>\n
The conflict has killed nearly 7,000 people since the coalition launched military operations in Yemen in March 2015, according to the United Nations.<\/p>\n
On Thursday, a military official said eight rebels and five pro-Hadi soldiers were killed in clashes in central Taez province.<\/p>\n
Eleven rebels were wounded in the fighting in Salo district, which forced most its 5,000 residents to flee, the official said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"