UN chief to attend peace talks today
Mediators are seeking de-escalation of violence in Hodeida and Taiz cities |
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will attend the last day of talks between the Yemeni government and Al Houthi militia in Sweden today, the world body said.
Antonio Guterres will participate in UN-brokered negotiations in the rural village of Rimbo, north of Stockholm.
He will “hold meetings with the two delegations and will address the closing session of this round of consultations,” the UN said in a statement.
Both parties agreed yesterday to reopen Sana’a airport in Al Houthi-held capital. Yemeni government sources also confirmed yesterday that a mass prisoner swap with Al Houthis included Saudi soldiers fighting alongside state troops, as the UN-brokered peace talks neared their end.
Two government officials, including one in the delegation at the talks in Sweden, told AFP that the list of names they requested released by Al Houthis included Saudi soldiers. Both requested anonymity.
In a positive development coming out of the Yemen peace talks, a member of the government delegation said yesterday that the next round of negotiations between both sides could take place as early as January.
Meanwhile, an international group tracking Yemen’s civil war reported that the conflict has killed more than 60,000 people, both combatants and civilians, since 2016. The sombre figure – six times higher than the UN figure of 10,000 civilian deaths — adds to the urgency to find a resolution.
In Sweden, Marwan Dammaj, the culture minister in Yemen’s internationally recognised government, said the venue and the exact timing for the next round of UN-sponsored talks are still being considered.
“There has been discussion of another round soon, there are arrangements and such,” he said. “It’s been suggested that they take place in January, next month after the New Year holiday, but this not fully determined yet, it’s only preliminary.”
With 24 hours left before the scheduled close of the talks, mediators pushed yesterday for a truce between warring parties as a crucial step to allow aid deliveries. Mediators are seeking a de-escalation of violence in rebel-held Hodeida, a port city vital to the delivery of humanitarian aid, and Taiz, Yemen’s third largest city.