Exiled Yemen PM makes symbolic Aden visit to lead restoration

Aden

Yemeni Prime Minister Khaled Bahah made a symbolic visit to the devastated port of Aden from Saudi exile Saturday, two weeks after loyalist forces ousted Shiite rebels from the city.

Bahah became the highest ranking official to return to the southern city since the government announced its liberation in mid-July.

He was followed by officials whose task will be to restore normality and public services to a city battered by four months of ferocious

combat.

Bahah, who is also vice president in Yemen's internationally recognised government, fled into exile with President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi and his team in March when the rebels entered Aden.

Impoverished Yemen has been rocked by fighting between the Huth rebels and Hadi loyalists, who have received air support from a Saudi-led Arab coalition for the past four months.

The United Nations says the war has killed nearly 4,000 people, half of them civilians, while 80 percent of the 21-million population is in need of aid and protection.

On Monday, a humanitarian pause declared by the coalition went into effect but collapsed the next day.

An airport source said Bahah flew in on a Saudi military plane an promised in an arrival statement that "normal life" would return to a "liberated Aden".

He visited several districts and was briefed on damage to the presidential palace, state broadcaster and military headquarters, a security source said.

He was also to visit people wounded in the fighting during his hours-long symbolic visit, a member of his delegation said. Bahah later flew out to Abu Dhabi, a government source said.

"Aden is the key to victory" in reconquering the country, the premier's spokesman Rajeh Badi told Al-Arabiya television, adding that Hadi could soon also return "at any time".

Several government officials also arrived in Aden on a separate plane from Saudi Arabia, said Human Rights Minister Ezzedine al-Isbahi.