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Yemen president to undergo ‘medical tests’ in US: minister
ADEN, Sept 3, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Yemeni President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi,
whose country is gripped by a devastating civil conflict, will undergo
medical tests in the United States later this month, a minister said Monday.
Information Minister Moammer al-Eryani said in a tweet that Hadi will be
travelling to the US to attend the UN General Assembly, which opens on
September 18 in New York.
He will undergo medical examinations while there”, Eryani tweeted, without
providing further details on the nature of the tests that the Yemeni
president is expected to undertake.
Hadi, 73, who has lived in exile in Riyadh since 2015, on Sunday chaired a
cabinet session in the Saudi capital.
There have been no reports that Hadi has been ill.
Backed by Saudi Arabia and its allies, Hadi’s government has battled Iran-
backed Huthi Shiite rebels for more than three years in what is widely seen
as a proxy war between Riyadh and Tehran.
The UN recognises the administration of Hadi as the legitimate government
of Yemen.
The world body has invited Yemen’s warring parties to hold peace talks in
Geneva from Thursday.
Both the government and rebels have said they do not expect any
breakthrough at the talks, the first since UN-backed negotiations broke down
in 2016.
Yemen’s foreign minister has ruled out face-to-face meetings between the
delegations.
In 2014, the Huthis overran the capital, driving out the Hadi government
and setting up a parallel government in Sanaa.
Saudi Arabia and its allies joined the government’s fight against the
Huthis in 2015, triggering what the UN has called the world’s worst
humanitarian crisis.
More than 10,000 people have since been killed and the country now stands
at the brink of famine.
BSS/AFP/MSY/1341 hrs