UN envoy : Yemen peace talks on track for April 18

Talks aimed at ending the war in Yemen are on track to begin on April 18 in Kuwait, the UN envoy confirmed on Friday.

A nationwide ceasefire is due to come into effect at midnight on April 10 to bolster the new round of talks between the Saudi-backed Yemeni government and Shiite Huthi rebels. 

"With political will, good faith and balance, they could take this opportunity to end the conflict and pave the way towards a permanent and durable end of the war," UN envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed said in a statement.

The talks were announced last week after months of shuttle diplomacy by the UN envoy and growing pressure on a Saudi-led coalition to end its air campaign in Yemen.

More than 6,300 people have been killed in Yemen since the coalition -- which includes Kuwait -- began an air war a year ago to push back the Huthi offensive.

The envoy said UN teams were working "at full speed" in Sanaa and Riyadh to prepare the delegations and another team was on its way to Kuwait to finalize preparations.

The peace talks are to focus on militia withdrawal, the handover of heavy weapons, security arrangements, the resumption of a dialogue and the creation of a committee on detainees, said the envoy.

Cheikh Ahmed welcomed a prisoner exchange this week that saw nine Saudis swapped for 109 Yemenis, saying the move provides "an important drive to the political process."

Confirmation of the peace talks came after the Huthi rebels this week mounted a deadly counterattack against government troops advancing down the Red Sea coast from the Saudi border.

The rebels and their allies surrounded a government force that was attempting to recapture the coastal town of Midi and killed 45 loyalist troops on Tuesday and Wednesday, sources said.

At least 15 rebels were also killed in the fighting.

The United Nations has expressed growing alarm over the heavy civilian toll from the airstrikes and the dire humanitarian situation in Yemen, where more than 80 percent of the population is on the brink of famine.

Previous UN-sponsored negotiations failed to reach a breakthrough, while a ceasefire that went into force on December 15 was repeatedly violated until the Saudi-led coalition announced an end to it on January 2.

Source : AFP