Yemen’s government threatened on Thursday to boycott UN-brokered peace talks, on the eve of their expected resumption in Kuwait, unless the Houthi Ansarullah movement commits to the terms of a United Nations resolution.
The UN said however that it still had not been informed of any boycott from any side while affirming that the talks were scheduled to resume on Friday after a two-week break.
More than two months of negotiations between exiled President Abd Rabbuh Hadi’s Saudi-backed government and the Ansarullah movement and their allies have failed to make any headway.
"Our delegation will not travel to Kuwait until the United Nations fulfills its commitments" to pressure the rebels to "implement (Security Council) Resolution 2216," a presidency official told AFP from Riyadh, where much of the ex-government is based since it fled the Yemeni capital.
Security arrangements under Resolution 2216 require the revolutionaries and their allies to withdraw from areas they have been controling since 2014, including the capital Sana’a, and hand over heavy weapons.
For the talks to resume, UN envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed must obtain "written guarantees from the other party to commit to the references of the talks that have been agreed on," including the resolution, said the source who requested anonymity.
Hadi on Sunday warned that his government would boycott the talks if the UN envoy insists on a roadmap stipulating a unity government that includes the Houthis.
But a spokesman for the UN envoy told the AFP news agency that Ahmed "will return to Kuwait tomorrow (Friday) and the talks will resume as planned".
"No delegation has yet announced that it will not participate," the source added.
The UN envoy was still in Sana’a where he met with Houthi leaders after holding consultations with Hadi in Riyadh on Tuesday.
More than 10,000 people have been killed in Yemen since a Saudi-led coalition launched a military campaign in support of Hadi’s regime in March last year.
Human Rights Watch earlier this week revealed evidence that the Saudi-led coalition had indiscriminately targeted civilian economic targets.
The report also revealed evidence of the use of US and UK-manufactured munitions by the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen.
Some 2.8 million people have been displaced and more than 80 percent of the population is in urgent need of humanitarian aid, according to UN figures.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by Website Team
