Yemen's exiled president wants talks between his country's rival political forces to begin in the Saudi capital on May 17, Qatar's foreign minister said after a regional summit on Tuesday.

This is the first time a date has been mentioned for the proposed talks, which the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council insists must be held in Riyadh, which is leading a coalition launching air strikes on Iran-backed Yemen rebels.

Iran, which denies arming the rebels, insists talks must take place in a neutral location.

"The president of Yemen has called for the start of the dialogue in Riyadh on the 17th of May," Qatari Foreign Minister Khalid al-Attiyah told reporters after an extraordinary summit of the GCC nations.

Attiyah said President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi wishes "that everyone accept and join the other Yemen colleagues that are already in Riyadh... to  start this process."

Hadi and members of his government fled to Saudi Arabia after the rebels seized the Yemeni capital and advanced onto the president's last refuge in the war-torn country -- the main southern city of Aden.

All Gulf Arab states except Oman are part of the coalition which has been bombing Huthi Shiite rebels and their allies in Yemen since March 26.

The Huthis have so far rejected attending talks in Sunni-dominated Saudi Arabia.

Fighting between pro- and anti-government forces continues on the ground, with mounting international concern over the war which the United Nations says has killed at least 1,200 people.
Source: AFP