Yemen talks on right track
KUWAIT CITY, April 27, (Agencies): Yemen’s peace consultations are on right track in light of positive atmospheres created during discussions among Yemeni warring parties on Tuesday that focused on security, political and economic axes of upcoming period in accordance with the UN resolution 2216 and outcome of meeting held in Switzerland in 2015.
International efforts, including the ones of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, exerted Tuesday and Monday contributed to bringing views of parties closer together on issues, mainly consolidating ceasefire which featured high on discussions held in Kuwait under the UN supervision.
The Yemeni warring parties’ delegations resumed peace negotiations in Kuwait on Tuesday after a 24-hour pause over divergent views on the agenda of talks, mainly ceasefire.
In this context, His Highness the Amir met separately with UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmad, head of General People’s Congress delegation Aref Al-Zouka, head of Ansarullah group delegation Mohammad Faletah, and Yemeni Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister Abdulmalek Mekhlafi.
Speaking at a news conference at Bayan Palace after the peace talks on Tuesday, the UN envoy said he briefed His Highness the Amir on the path of negotiations.
He commended efforts exerted by His Highness the Amir that contributed to creating these positive atmospheres at Yemen’s peace consultations.
He thanked, on behalf of the UN team, His Highness the Amir for facilitations offered by the State of Kuwait, lauding at the same time the role of Acting Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah in making “successful talks.” The envoy hailed the role of the ambassadors of the 18-member transit process sponsoring countries to Yemen, and the UN Security Council President’s resolution calling on Yemenis to set a roadmap represented in agreeing on transitional security measures, calling on the armed groups to withdraw from the areas under their control, handing over heavy and medium weapons to the State and resuming a comprehensive political dialogue in accordance with the UNSC relevant resolutions, the Gulf initiative and the outcome of national dialogue.
Reports showed that security
situations in Yemen have been remarkably improved over the last days, thanks to the truce and the local committees, he said.
UN Special Envoy to Yemen Ismael Ould Cheikh Ahmed on Wednesday met separately with Yemeni parties participating in UN-sponsored talks held in Kuwait since Thursday in a bid to reach consensus on political, security and economic issues ahead of direct negotiations.
The UN envoy discussed with head of General People’s Congress delegation, Aref Al-Zouka, head of Ansarullah group delegation Mohammad Faletah, and Yemeni Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister Abdulmalik Mikhlafi, the agenda of consultations in light of positive results achieved earlier on Tuesday.
The peace talks focus on the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution No 2216, ongoing efforts to augment the ceasefire agreement that took force on April 10, as well as a peaceful process in Yemen as per the GCC Initiative and the outcome of the Yemeni National Dialogue.
Earlier on the day, Kuwaiti Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Al-Jarallah expected that today’s talks would see “good results” thanks to Tuesday’s progress in discussions pertinent to security, economic and political affairs.
Speaking to reporters following the fourth meeting of officials from the member states of the International Coalition to Counter Dae’sh or the Islamic State (IS), Al-Jarallah said His Highness the Amir’s talks with Yemeni rivals yesterday were “fruitful”.
The Kuwaiti official voiced confidence that ongoing consultations held in Kuwait would lead to positive results.
In other news, at least 27 Yemeni soldiers killed in Mukalla offensive
Backed by Saudi-led forces, which drove al-Qaeda militants out of a key southeastern city, military officials and medics said Wednesday.
Life, meanwhile, was returning to normal in the port city, residents said.
More than 60 other soldiers were wounded in the operations that began at the weekend and saw government forces recapture Mukalla, the provincial capital of Hadramawt, the officials said.
The city had been held by al-Qaeda militants for over a year.
Recapturing Mukalla was part of a wider counter-offensive against the Sunni extremists launched by pro-government forces last month after a year in which they had focused their firepower on Shiite Houthi rebels who control the capital.
Government troops were backed by special forces from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, as well as coalition air strikes, the Arab coalition said, claiming 800 militants were killed in the offensive.
Life began to return to normal Wednesday in Mukalla, a city of some 200,000 people, as shops and government offices reopened, residents said.
Staff at Mukalla airport and its port also returned to work for the first time since April last year, when militants of al-Qaeda
in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) took over, officials in the city said.
During its year-long rule, AQAP imposed its strict interpretation of sharia law forbidding consumption of the mild narcotic qat, a mainstay of Yemeni social life, and demolishing the tombs of revered Sufi mystics.
On Tuesday, a US drone rocketed the car of an al-Qaeda chief in Zinjibar, in neighbouring Abyan province, Ali al-Shanna, killing his driver but he was not in the vehicle, security sources said.
Washington has been waging a drone war against AQAP since November 2002, when it killed the suspected mastermind of an October 2000 bombing of a US destroyer that killed 17 sailors in the southern port of Aden.