Local Editor
The U.N.’s Yemen envoy Thursday hailed the "positive atmosphere" at crucial peace talks between the country’s warring sides, as negotiations in Kuwait entered their second week without a major breakthrough.
U.N. special envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed has held several rounds of talks with Yemen’s Houthi Ansarullah movement and a delegation representing the regime of fugitive president Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi over the past two days focusing on key issues.
Besides discussing ways to firm up an ongoing cease-fire, delegates also tackled "the issues related to the withdrawal of armed groups, handover of heavy weapons, resumption of the political transition and the release of prisoners and detainees," Ould Cheikh Ahmed said in a statement.
He said a "positive atmosphere" prevailed during talks but warned that differences remained.
The Hadi delegation proposed a mechanism on how to implement the withdrawal of the Houthi revolutionaries and handover of heavy arms, a Yemeni official said.
"We are optimistic over the prospects of an agreement being worked out by the U.N. envoy," Mani al-Matari, the press adviser to Yemen’s foreign minister, told AFP.
The main sticking point remains that the Ansarullah movement want to discuss a political settlement before surrendering arms while the Hadi delegation insists on the implementation of U.N. Security Council resolution 2216.
Ould Cheikh Ahmed said the negotiations have no timeframe.
The 15-member U.N. Security Council Monday stressed the importance of agreeing on a "roadmap" to implement security measures including the withdrawal of heavy weapons from Yemen.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by Website Team
