Warring parties agree to ceasefire

YEMEN’S warring parties agreed to a ceasefire in the strategic Houthi-held port city of Hodeidah and to place it under the control of local forces, the UN chief said at the close of peace talks in Sweden yesterday.

UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres said a political framework for peace negotiations would be discussed at another round of talks between the Saudi-backed government and the Iranian-aligned Houthis.

The Houthis control most population centres in Yemen including the capital Sana’a, from where they ousted the government of Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi in 2014.

The government is currently based in the southern port of Aden.

| Reuters

Reuters HEAD of the Houthi delegation Mohammed Abdul-Salam, right, and Yemeni Foreign Minister Khaled al-Yaman shake hands next to UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres and Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom, left, during the peace talks in Rimbo, Sweden. |