SANAA, Yemen, Sept. 13 (UPI) -- Yemen's president said he met with Western diplomats in Sanaa to highlight progress made on national reconciliation initiatives.
Yemeni President Abdo Rabbo Mansour Hadi took power in 2012 after longtime President Ali Abdullah Saleh stepped down in the wake of the Middle East and North African upheavals known as the Arab Spring.
Yemen has since struggled to maintain a sense of national security because of the threat from al-Qaida and from southern secessionist movements.
Hadi in July told U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry more than 500 delegates were taking part in the reconciliation agenda.
The president met in Yemen's capital with British Ambassador Jane Marriot to discuss progress made on national reconciliation.
"During the meeting, they reviewed cooperation relations between the two friendly countries and the latest developments in Yemen's political settlement," Yemen's official Saba News Agency reported Thursday.
Marriot issued a statement from her official Twitter account saying transparency was "vital" for reconciliation. Saba reported the president also held talks with U.S. diplomats.
Yemen was the subject of a terrorism alert issued by the U.S. government last month. The U.S. Embassy in Sanaa remains closed as a security precaution.
Hadi's government last month apologized on behalf of the Saleh administration for civil war in the 1990s "and consequent repercussions."
