Ansarullah surprised by UN-proposed peace agreement

The Ansarullah movement has expressed surprise at a new UN peace proposal on the conflict in Yemen, saying the United Nations has altered the terms of a draft agreement worked out in Kuwait.

On Saturday, UN Yemen envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed said the talks had been extended by a week after they came on the verge of collapse when the Saudi-backed side abandoned the negotiations. 

The Saudi side, however, reversed its position on Sunday, saying it has agreed to extend peace talks in Kuwait with Ansarullah and their General People's Congress party allies.  

Ansarullah delegates said the new plan offered by the world body was a non-starter, because it merely constituted a framework, far from being a peace deal for signing. 

They dismissed the proposal, saying its terms differed from the actual text agreed between the Ansarullah movement and the Saudi-backed representatives before.

“We have asserted to Ould Cheikh (Ahmed) that the solution must be comprehensive and that no subject is delayed,” the Ansarullah delegation said in a statement, while stressing its commitment to further talks for peace.

The Ansarullah also accused the UN envoy of siding with the representatives of the former Saudi-backed president, Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi.

A Yemeni television supporting Hadi said the decision to continue the talks was made after the former president consulted with advisers.

It said Hadi has also accepted proposals put forward by Cheikh Ahmed for the Ansarullah fighters to pull out of cities, including the capital Sana'a, and hand over weapons within 45 days.

Abdulmalek al-Mikhlafi, the head of the pro-Hadi delegation, said he has already sent a letter to Cheikh Ahmed, informing him that they had accepted the new proposal. 

SS