Nations special envoy to Jamal bin Omar UN envoy to Yemen, Jamal bin Omar, has denied that al-Qaeda will be taking part in the national dialogue. After presenting his report to the International Security Council, Omar said that the national dialogue in Yemen does not prohibit debating any issue, including demands of disengagement, self-determination and division .
He added that the Security Council is willing to help Yemen overcome the obstacles hindering its transition to democracy, but all the parties should trust each other and cooperate to help the country pass this delicate stage.
Meanwhile, Ali Salim al-Beidh, former president of South Yemen, has once again refused the option of dialogue and described it as meaningless to the south.
Al-Beidh revealed that he refused a new Gulf initiative for solving the issue of the South, confirming his adherence to demands of an immediate disengagement with the North. Al-Beidh was the last president of South Yemen, and he signed the union agreement with President of the North, Ali Abdullah Saleh in 1990.
In an interview with Radio Sawa, al-Beidh said that he cannot guarantee what would happen if demands of independence are not met. \"Those who are going to the dialogue from the South only represent themselves,\" he added.
Opinion are divided in South Yemen as to disengagement with the North, and some political factions don\'t agree on boycotting the national dialogue.
In the same radio interview, al-Beidh denied Iran and Hezbollah were financing or arming the South, confirming that the only support they get comes from southerners living abroad. \"Linking the southern movement to Iran and Hezbollah is an attempt to drag it to a regional conflict and justify the regional and international failure to support its cause,\" al-Beidh said.
Al-Beidh also promised a democratic, federal state in the south, and a severe fight against al-Qaeda, who he claims were planted in the South by former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh.