Ceasefire on cards for Yemen ahead of peace bid

DUBAI: Yemen’s warring parties are expected to announce a humanitarian ceasefire within days before UN-sponsored talks to end a civil war that has killed nearly 6 000 people, an official from President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi’s government said yesterday.

The UN special envoy to Yemen has met Hadi in Aden and Houthi officials in the Omani capital, Muscat, with a proposed agenda for the talks, which Hadi’s foreign minister Abdel-Malek al-Mekhlafi said would start on December 15.

Forces loyal to Hadi, backed by air strikes and ground forces from a mainly Gulf Arab coalition, have been locked for nine months in a civil war with the Houthis, who rule the capital Sana’a and other cities.

The Houthi spokesperson, Mohammed Abdul-Salam, confirmed in a post on Facebook that his group had discussed “the venue and the date for the talks planned for the middle of this month” with the UN envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed.

“Ways for a ceasefire and subsequent confidencebuilding steps were also discussed, and we expressed our openness to conduct a responsible and serious dialogue,” he added.

Measures include the release of the Yemeni defence minister captured by the Houthis in March, lifting a siege of cities and other population centres, and suspending recruitment of children to fight in the conflict.

Hadi’s supporters say Houthi forces are besieging the city of Taiz, north of Aden. The Houthis say the Saudi-led coalition is putting much of the country under siege by closing off its air space and sea ports.

The peace talks would be aimed at implementing a UN Security Council resolution adopted in April, which provides for the restoration of the Yemeni government and withdrawal of Houthi forces from the cities. – Reuters