The Associated Press said that the Saudi-led coalition rejected a new request from the fugitive Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi to return to the city of Aden, according to what the agency said, citing officials in the presidency and aides to the president, who has been residing in Riyadh for years.
According to the agency, three sources and aides to President Hadi in Riyadh and Cairo told the Associated Press that the president submitted more than one request to the coalition leadership represented in Saudi Arabia and the UAE to enable him to return to Aden after the formation of the government, but the response was the time was not right and the security situation in Aden was still unstable.
According to the US agency, the non-return of President Hadi is a violation of the Riyadh agreement and a undermining of the supposed confidence between the two parties. While the STC has support from the UAE, the government is backed by Saudi Arabia, which has turned the issue into a sticking point between the two allies.
The agency said that the Emirati rejection of Hadi’s return came at a time when the head of the Transitional Council, Aidaroos Al-Zubaidi, arrived in Aden this month unexpectedly from the UAE. This step led to the anger of the so called legitimate leaderships, in particular, according to officials, after the leadership of the Transitional Council decided in a meeting held after Al-Zubaidi’s return that the presidential palace in Al-Tawahi district in Aden was the official residence of Al-Zubaidi.
The agency reported that a coalition spokesman declined to comment on Hadi’s return, and referred questions to the president’s office.
