Yemeni govt delegation heads to Kuwait to resume talks

A source told Al Arabiya News Channel the Yemeni government delegation is heading to Kuwait to resume UN-brokered Yemen peace talks.

Friday, Yemeni officials said that discussions will not resume unless Al Houthi rebels acknowledge the legitimacy of the country’s internationally-recognised president and abide by the UN resolutions.

Meanwhile, the Houthi delegation left Muscat Thursday on an Omani plane for Kuwait after a meeting with the UN envoy to Yemen Ismail Ould Sheikh Ahmed, showing Omani mediation efforts in bringing the warring sides back to the negotiation table.

Sources have also told Al Arabiya News Channel that the UN envoy hd left the Yemeni capital Sanaa without speaking to the media after his meetings with a delegation made of the Houthis and their allied representatives belonging to the toppled President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s regime.

The news comes after Yemeni government’s Deputy Prime Minister Abdul Malik al-Mekhlafi had said there will be “no going back” to peace talks if there were no “guarantees” and a timetable.

The UN-backed talks between the Houthis, who seized control of large parts of Yemen, and President Abedrabbu Mansour Hadi’s government began in Kuwait on April 21.

Despite a Saudi-led military intervention launched last year in support of Hadi’s government, the Houthi militias and their allies remain in control of many key areas, including the capital Sanaa.

The UN estimates that the conflict in Yemen has killed more than 6,400 people and displaced 2.8 million since March last year.