By AHMED AL-HAJ Associated Press

An aide to Yemen's exiled President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi says he has agreed to travel to Geneva for peace talks with Shiite rebels who have taken over large swaths of his country.

The official from Hadi's office said Tuesday that the embattled leader will attend the talks. Hadi had previously insisted that the rebels, known as Houthis, give up their weapons and surrender territory before entering into talks with them.

The aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief reporters, said the decision came after talks with Yemeni leaders in Riyadh and a day earlier with U.N. envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed

The Geneva talks had been previously postponed. No new date for the talks has been set.