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Iran's Supreme Leader Calls for Yemen Talks to Prevent Country's Division

Edward Yeranian

   CAIRO - Fighters loyal to Yemen's Houthis attacked several positions
   belonging to southern separatists Wednesday, Arab media reported. The
   attacks occurred a day after a Houthi delegation met with Iran's
   Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who reportedly backed a
   resumption of stalled talks between rival Yemeni groups.

   Al Masira TV, which supports the Houthis, broadcast news of the
   meeting, insisting that Khamenei was "calling for talks between Yemen's
   rival factions" in order to "prevent a division of the country."

   Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, a spokesman for the Houthis, told Arab media that
   his group was conducting a "defensive campaign" along battle lines in
   Baida and Dalaa provinces following success of southern separatists in
   Aden, and that Wednesday's attacks were fairly minor skirmishes.

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