UN envoy pushes Yemen peace talks after key militant demand met
Warring parties agree to swap hundreds of prisoners
Griffiths said on Monday that he was “pleased to confirm” the evacuation and “urged all Yemenis to work together in pursuit of peace.”
A UN source said the reopening of Sanaa airport, effectively closed since the coalition intervened in 2015, was a priority for the planned talks in Sweden.
No date has yet been set but hopes have been building that they could go ahead this week.
Kuwait’s Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Al-Jarallah told reporters that a Houthi delegation was set to leave Sanaa for Stockholm together with his country’s ambassador to Yemen.
The Gulf emirate, which has been a mediator in the devastating conflict, hosted Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom for talks in Kuwait City on Monday.
If and when the talks do convene, UN mediators will have to overcome a huge chasm between the rival sides to secure the concrete steps they seek at Hodeida docks and Sanaa airport.
The UAE minister said on Tuesday that the talks must not lose sight of the demands made of the militants by Resolution 2216 passed by the UN Security Council in April 2015, a month after President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi crossed into Saudi Arabia as the Houthis overran most of the country.
“A stable state, important for the region, cannot coexist with unlawful militias,” Gargash said.
“UN Security Council Resolution 2216 offers a workable road map.”
The resolution demands that the militants recognize the legitimacy of Hadi’s government and withdraw from all towns and cities they had taken, including Sanaa.
It also demands that they return all heavy weaponry they had taken from government arsenals, including the missiles which they have since used to launch persistent attacks into neighboring Saudi Arabia.
Prisoner swap
Meanwhile, the Yemeni government and the Houthi militants have agreed to exchange hundreds of prisoners ahead of planned peace talks in Sweden, sources said Tuesday.
The deal, struck during a visit by Griffiths, covers between 1,500 and 2,000 members of the pro-government forces and between 1,000 and 1,500 Houthi militia, government official Hadi Haig told AFP.
According to Haig, the prisoner swap will be implemented after the round of negotiations in Sweden.