Yemen foes agree to release child prisoners, says UN
Kuwait City, June 6: Yemen’s warring parties have pledged to free all child prisoners but have failed to reach agreement on a wider release for the Muslim holy month of Ramzan, the UN envoy said on Monday.
“In the prisoners committee, an agreement was made on the unconditional release of children,” Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed said in a statement.
There was no immediate word on how many children are held prisoner by the Saudi- backed government or by Iran- backed Shia rebels and their allies.
The UN envoy had been trying to push the two sides
The UN failed in its bid to secure a wider agreement on the release half of all prisoners held by both the government and the rebels before Ramzan to agree to release half of all their prisoners before Ramzan, which began on Monday.
After almost seven weeks of negotiations, the two sides have failed to make progress on any of the core issues in the UN- brokered peace talks in Kuwait.
The rebels and their allies have held out against demands contained in a UN Security Council resolution for their surrender of heavy weaponry and withdrawal from areas, including the capital, which they have seized since 2014.
The government has resisted proposals for a unity administration with the rebels, fearing it would undermine the legitimacy of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi.
The UN envoy said that despite the lack of progress, both sides remained engaged in the talks.
In the past few days, the talks have been overshadowed by rebel shelling of the besieged government garrison Taez.