DUBAI, Sept. 7 (Xinhua) -- The United Arab Emirates' (UAE) Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash criticized on Friday the absence of Yemen's Houthi rebels' delegation at United Nations-sponsored peace talks in Geneva.
Gargash said in Arabic language in a statement released on twitter that Houthis were "elusive when they feel the political and military pressure."
He added that the Houthi rebels' failure to attend the consultations stands "in contrast to the highlight position of the government in all its positive and responsibility toward the political solution."
UN Special Envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths met with the Yemeni government delegation, headed by foreign affairs minister Khaled al Yamani, Thursday morning and exchanged ideas on the expectations of the scheduled new talks in Geneva and relevant issues to the peace process.
However, due to the absence of the Houthi delegation in Geneva, the scheduled peace talks, the first of their kind since the failure of the last talks in Kuwait two years ago, were stalled the very first day.
The talks were intended to find a diplomatic solution of the three and half year war in Yemen which has killed more than 10,000 Yemenis.
The UAE is part of a Saudi-led Arab military coalition in Yemen which has been fighting the Iran-backed Shiite Houthis since March 2015 to support the internationally-recognized government led by Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.
