SANAA: The United Nations announced on Wednesday a date for its conference on Yemen, where Saudi-led warplanes have intensified raids against rebels in a conflict that has displaced half a million people.

But Yemen’s government-in-exile swiftly demanded a pullback of the Houthi rebels from seized territory as a precondition to joining the talks set for May 28 in Geneva.

A Saudi-led coalition has waged an air campaign against the Houthi rebels since March 26 in an effort to restore the authority of exiled President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who has fled to Riyadh.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said next week’s conference was aimed at restoring “momentum towards a Yemeni-led political transition process”.

Mr Ban hoped the Geneva talks would “reduce the levels of violence and alleviate the intolerable humanitarian situation”.

Following the announcement, however, Foreign Minister Riyadh Yassin said the Hadi government had yet to receive an official invitation.

But even if it was invited, he said the government would not attend without some implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 2216 as a sign of “goodwill”.