Saudi side rejects halt to airstrikes in Yemen

Head of the Saudi-led delegation to Yemen's peace talks being held in Kuwait has dismissed a halt to airstrikes, Yemen's al-Masirah TV says, citing sources privy to the negotiations.

Abdulmalek al-Mikhlafi, the head of the Saudi-led delegation, rejected on Tuesday UN special envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed's proposal to halt the air raids, the report said.

The Saudi side claims that a halt to airstrikes would help Houthis which are fighting forces supported by the kingdom rebuild their power, the sources reportedly said.

On Wednesday, Saudi warplanes bombed Yemen’s Ta’izz Province, despite the UN-brokered truce in the Arab country.

The two sides began their peace talks in Kuwait on April 21. On Tuesday, they agreed to begin work in two parallel committees, following heavy pressure from the five permanent members of the UN Security Council.

The delegates have been told that no one would be allowed to leave Kuwait without an agreement.

Both delegations “agreed to an agenda for negotiations, which is a framework for discussing security, economic and political issues,” Cheikh told a press conference, adding that “comprehensive negotiations” would start on Wednesday.

“We don’t want to go back to Yemen without a peaceful settlement,” Ahmed said.

SS