Saudi Arabia’s suspension of visas for members of the Presidential Council

As a new round of negotiations with Sana’a begins under Omani auspices, Saudi Arabia suspended the visit of leaders of the forces and authority loyal to it in southern Yemen on Sunday.

Exclusive – Al-Khabar Al-Yemeni:

Rashad Al-Alimi, the Council’s President, and Aidarous Al-Zubaidi, the Transitional Council’s President, were among the members of the Presidential Council whose visit to Riyadh was rejected by Saudi Arabia, according to the government of Ma’een.

According to sources in the foreign ministry, Al-Alimi and Aidarous Al-Zubaidi requested a visit to Riyadh before departing Aden. It also indicated that Saudi Arabia asked the two leaders to visit the US under the pretext of participating in the UNGA meetings.

According to the sources, Saudi Arabia’s worries about the impact of any visit by an official in the Presidential Council on the ongoing negotiations with Sana’a mediated by Oman were the cause.

The Ma’een government had previously stated that it was excluded from the negotiations, while Saudi expert Suleiman Al-Oqeliy claimed that his country seeks, through the negotiations, to extricate itself from the quagmire of war because it has realized that using force to end what it described as the “conflict”—a reference to his country’s defeat—is impossible.