Yemeni national dialogue threatened

Tuesday - The future of Yemen’s national dialogue is at stake after the technical committee suspended work in protest against the President’s decision to add members of the Muslim Brotherhood, sources told Arabstoday. The technical committee, responsible for the National Comprehensive Dialogue, also called for an urgent meeting to implement its recommendations including an apology to south Yemen for the war of 1994. As well as overlooking these recommendations President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi added six members to the committee on Monday, which includes four belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood. Local observers are concerned tensions between Hadi and 10 of the committee's 25 members, who opposed Hadi's new additions, might put the future of the national dialogue at stake. In addition to the apology for the 1994 war, the committee’s 20 recommendations include an additional apology to the Shiite Houthis group for the six wars instigated against them by the regime of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh. Earlier the technical committee demanded increased representation on its panel to include the separatist, federal and southern opposition streams. The National Comprehensive Dialogue will be launched in November.