Tourists stranded on Yemen island to leave starting Jan 6

SANAA

More than 400 tourists stranded on a Yemeni island after flights were halted due to fighting on the mainland will be able to fly out starting on Jan. 6, a Yemeni airport official has announced.

Over the past few days, flights in and out of Yemen had been largely restricted following a flare-up of violence between rival armed factions loosely grouped under the government but separately backed by the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.

An official at the airport on the island of Socotra told AFP on Jan. 5 that the 416 stranded tourists would be able to leave from Wednesday via Yemenia Airways flights to Aden, then on to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia.

The airport in Aden on the mainland has been functional since Jan. 4 after disruptions that lasted for several days.

The stranded tourists had arrived from the UAE's Abu Dhabi airport via Air Arabia, an Emirati airline.

The tourists include at least 60 Russians, he said, with a Western diplomat telling AFP other nationalities were present including French, British and American citizens

The Saudis and Emiratis have for years supported rival factions in Yemen's fractious Aden-based government, which has been held together by its opposition to the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in the north.