Local Editor

The UN special envoy to Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, arrived in the Yemeni capital of Sana’a and launched a mission to discuss the postponed Geneva peace talks on Yemen, as Saudi Arabia continues pounding the impoverished country.

Ahmed, who flew in to Sana’a on Friday, opened the mission on Saturday to discuss the postponed Geneva talks aimed at ending the crisis in the war-torn country.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon had recently urged all Yemeni sides to attend the Geneva talks, which were initially set for May 28. The talks were postponed after the fugitive former Yemeni president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, said in a letter to the UN secretary general that he would not be present during the talks unless his demands are met.

Yemen has been under US-led Saudi airstrikes since March 26. The military aggression, carried out without a UN mandate, is meant to restore power to Hadi, who is a close ally of the Saudi regime.

According to the UN, about 2,000 people have been killed and more than 500,000 displaced as a result of the conflict in Yemen.