Yemen apologizes to separatists for civil war in bid to kick-start talks

Yemen has apologized to the country’s separatists for a war launched against them nearly two decades ago, in a move aimed at convincing the secessionists to return to national talks.

On Wednesday, the Yemeni government apologized in a statement read on state television, for the “historical and moral mistakes” made in the 1994 war during the rule of former President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

In its statement, the government said that it was apologizing to the thousands of people in the south and the Houthis in the north, affected by the war.

“What was agreed on in the national reconciliation talks is that a formal apology to the south is made by the political parties that took part in the ’94 war,” head of the Southern Movement Ali Hassan Zaki said.

The Southern Movement responded to the apology by saying that members of Saleh’s regime should be apologizing for causing thousands of deaths in the short-lived war.

The movement has also demanded that the remnants of the former regime be removed from the current government and that the land that belongs to the south but was confiscated by the government be returned to its owners.

In February 2012, mass demonstrations forced Saleh to step down.

The separatists, in a recent letter to the government, said that they had pulled out of the talks and suggested the dialog be moved to a “neutral” country.

North and South Yemen unified in 1990 after the southern government collapsed. Northern troops took control of the south after winning the civil war in 1994.

The Yemeni government has called on the separatists to take part in national dialogue.