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Yemeni government backs out of peace talks

September 13, 2015

Yemen's government says it won't participate in UN-brokered peace talks with Houthis unless the rebels withdraw from conquered territory. The talks were to be the second major diplomatic push to end the war.

https://p.dw.com/p/1GVk7
Jemen Luftangriffe Saudi Arabien Sanaa
Image: Reuters/Mohamed al-Sayaghi

The office of Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi said in a statement on Sunday there would be no meeting until the Shiite Houthis "recognize international resolution 2216 and agree to implement it unconditionally."

The United Nations resolution stipulates that the rebels must surrender any weapons taken from state institutions and withdraw from land they have seized.

The UN's special envoy for Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, announced earlier that both the internationally recognized government and the rebels had agreed to hold talks in neutral Oman next week. Several previous attempts to get the warring parties to meet have failed. In June, talks in Geneva collapsed without the rival sides even sitting in the same room.

Jemen Taiz Humanitäre Hilfe
Aid groups warn Yemen is facing a humanitarian crisisImage: Reuters/F. Al Nassar

The Houthis, fighting with a loose alliance of militias and troops loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, have sought to expand their control southwards from their northern base over the past several months. They currently hold the capital, Sanaa, but have been expelled from much of the south, including the second largest city, Aden.

Hadi fled Yemen earlier this year and is currently living in exile in Saudi Arabia. As part of a campaign to see him reinstalled, a Saudi-led coalition launched airstrikes against the Iran-backed Shiite rebels in March.

According to the UN, more than 4,300 people have been killed in the Yemen conflict since March. The violence has also prevented the delivery of aid and vital food supplies, with the World Food Programme warning the impoverished Arab state is on the brink of famine.

nm/sms (AFP, AP, Reuters)