UN special envoy meets with ‘delegation’ of Yemen’s govt

Sanaa campus bomb kills 2

KUWAIT CITY, May 24, (Agencies): UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy for Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmad met with the delegation of Yemeni government, participating in the peace talks currently hosted by Kuwait, to discuss some key issues and the proposed frameworks.

The aim of the meeting held on Tuesday was to find a political solution to the country’s crisis as soon as possible.

Later today, Ould Cheikh Ahmad is set to hold talks with delegations of Ansarullah movement and General People’s Congress (GPC) to deal with the same issues and create closeness among the Yemeni warring parties towards differences.

On Monday, separate sessions were held between Ould Cheikh Ahmad and the three delegations, and a joint session convened between the UN envoy and the three representatives in a bid to put an end to the crisis.

After the meetings, Ould Cheikh Ahmad expressed his satisfaction with the return of the Yemeni government’s delegation to the negotiations after a five-day halt as the Yemeni government blamed Ansarullah movement and GPC for hampering peace.

The sessions were held yesterday to discuss some key issues like the restoration of the State’s institutions, resumption of political dialogue and security arrangements, mainly the withdrawal of armed forces and handover of weapons.

The Yemeni government retuned to the negotiations after the UN provided guarantees that Ansarullah movement and GPC are committed to UN Security Council Resolution 2216.

In a last-ditch attempt to save the UN-mediated Yemeni peace talks, negotiators resumed meetings Monday to reach a compromise deal to end Yemeni people suffering.

After five days of suspension, the Yemeni negotiating teams held two sessions to discuss key issues such as the restoration of the State’s institutions, resumption of political dialogue and security arrangements, mainly the withdrawal of armed forces and handover of weapons.

The Special Envoy of the UN Secretary General for Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed pointed out that the Government of Yemen (GOY) delegation together with the delegations of the General People’s Congress (GPC) and Ansarallah movement met in a plenary session today.

He has also convened separate bilateral meetings with the GOY delegation, as well as with the GPC and Ansarallah delegation.

In addition, a special meeting of the prisoners and detainee committee was held. The GOY delegation to the committee submitted a list to the UN Special Envoy containing the names of a number of detained Yemeni journalists who went on a hunger strike in protest against their detention, the UN Envoy’s statement unveiled.

Cheikh Ahmed has called on all the Yemeni parties to make progress, in order to alleviate the burden placed on the Yemeni people.

“Peace talks are always complicated and require time, however I urge the Yemeni parties to exert all possible effort to reach a sustainable peace agreement in the near future,” he said in a press statement Monday.

“Any delay, wastes time and causes the tragic loss of more innocent lives.

Meanwhile, one Saudi soldier was killed and three were wounded when a landmine exploded on the border with Yemen where Riyadh has led a 14-month military intervention, the interior ministry said late Monday.

The blast hit a border patrol in the southwestern province of Jazan, the ministry said in a statement.

The border area has been largely calm since March, when local tribes brokered a truce between Riyadh and Tehran-backed Houthi Shiite rebels, who control most of it.

Saudi Arabia intervened in its impoverished southern neighbour in March last year in support Hadi, who had fled into exile as the rebels threatened to overrun the country.

Despite its intervention, the rebels and their allies still control many of Yemen’s most populous regions, including the central and northern highlands and the Red Sea coast.

A bomb hit a university campus in the rebel-held Yemeni capital Sanaa on Tuesday killing two people at an event commemorating the country’s 1990 unification, a security official said.

Several people were also seriously wounded, the official said, adding that death toll was likely to rise.

The event was organised by the Houthi Shiite rebels who have controlled the capital since September 2014 despite a 14-month-old Saudi-led military intervention in support of Hadi.

The Houthis were commemorating the May 22, 1990 unification of Yemen after centuries of separation between the north and the south, where British colonial rule was followed by a Soviet-backed communist regime.

There was no immediate claim for Tuesday’s bombing but both al-Qaeda and its jihadist rival the Islamic State group have carried out past bombings against the Houthis, whose Zaidi Shiite faith they regard as heretical.

Suicide bombings claimed by IS in March year killed 120 worshippers at mosques frequented by the Houthis.