Local Editor
The U.N. envoy to Yemen hailed a "constructive" first full day of Yemen peace talks Friday but called for a halt to airstrikes by an Arab-led coalition.
Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed said firming up an April 11 cease-fire was essential to the success of the hard-won peace negotiations in Kuwait.
The United Nations hopes that the negotiations - which were originally due to begin Monday - will end fighting across Yemen that has killed more than 6,800 people and driven 2.8 million from their homes since March last year.
Military sources said the cease-fire was largely holding on the ground, although clashes were continuing around battleground third city Taiz and in the Saudi border province of Jawf.
The negotiations in Kuwait opened Thursday evening with a session lasting less than two hours following the delayed arrival of representatives of the Houthi Ansarullah movement and allied forces loyal to ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh.
The U.N. envoy, who spent months getting the warring sides to the negotiating table after a 13-month military aggression led by an Arab coalition to restore fugitive President Abed Rabbou Mansour Hadi, said Friday’s talks had been "very constructive."
"There was a consensus on strengthening the cease-fire and the two sides were committed to the need to achieve peace and that this is the last opportunity," he said.
"The cease-fire is respected between 70 percent to 80 percent all over Yemen," he added.
Cheikh Ahmed said the Ansarullah complained of continuing airstrikes by the Arab-led coalition.
"The cease-fire is respected between 70 percent to 80 percent all over Yemen," he added.
Coalition spokesman Brig. Gen. Ahmed Asiri said there were fewer breaches of the cease-fire than in previous days. "Our observations tell us that day by day the number of violations keeps decreasing."
He acknowledged that fighting was continuing in and around Taiz.
"Taiz is a very difficult city, but I think today [Friday] is better than yesterday or two days before." Cease-fire monitoring teams with revolutionaries and loyalist representatives have been set up in the most contested areas.
The Hadi delegation wants Houthis and fighters loyal to Saleh to withdraw from cities and hand over weapons before discussing a political solution, sources present at the talks said.
The Houthi Ansarullah and its allies want the formation of a new government representing all parties, which will then oversee disarmament. They also want to focus the discussion on security arrangements and detainees, the sources added.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by Website Team
