Yemeni advisors arrive in Kuwait to prepare for talks

A panel of advisors in charge of implementing a future ceasefire in Yemen has arrived in Kuwait to kick start its arrangements for the upcoming peace talks on April 18, an official in the internationally recognized Yemeni government said.

Abdullah al-Alimi, deputy head of the presidential office, said the Pacification and Communication Commission panel has finished its draft notes over the paper sent by the UN special envoy over arrangements to ceasefire.

Since late March last year, the Saudi-led coalition has bombed Iranian-backed Houthi militias and forces allied to deposed leader Ali Abdullah Saleh, in a bid to put the government of internationally recognized President Abdrabbu Mansour Hadi back in power.

UN-sponsored peace talks are scheduled to start in Kuwait on April 18. The two sides have confirmed a truce starting at midnight on April 10 ahead of the peace talks, scheduled to follow a week later.

Alimi said the panel will give its vision to launch the talks, expressing the government’s intentions to reach peace especially if the Houthis respond in kind.

Meanwhile, Abdulaziz al-Maflahi, a Hadi advisor, told Al Arabiya News Channel in an interview that considered the negotiations by the Houthis with the Saudi side is a step in the right direction, but said they need to do more to boost confidence-building measures.

“Those attempted coup [Houthis] need to do the minimal asked from them and that’s through releasing political prisoners, break siege on besieged areas especially [southwestern city of] Taiz,” he said. “Until now we did not find them taking any positive step, except for speaking with our brethren of the Saudi kingdom.”