Yemen talks not launched, await arrival of delegates

Negotiations scheduled for Thursday between Yemen’s warring sides have not yet begun, awaiting the arrival of delegations representing Yemen’s Ansarullah and ex-President Ali Abdullah Saleh, sources say.

The representatives of the Ansarullah and Saleh’s General People’s Congress party, the main groups fighting Saudi and Saudi-backed forces in Yemen, are expected to arrive in Kuwait by the end of Thursday, said one diplomat close to the talks.

“As a result,” another diplomat said, “the talks could be delayed further until Friday.”

The talks had been initially scheduled for Monday, but the Ansarullah delegation did not participate, citing violations of a truce in the country by Saudi Arabia. The negotiations were later postponed until Thursday.

The Ansarullah movement agreed to join the UN-mediated talks after receiving assurances from the world body that the ceasefire would be respected.

Saudi forces have repeatedly violated the truce, which came into effect on April 11.

The Ansarullah representatives and their allies left the Yemeni capital, Sana’a, for Oman on Wednesday and were expected to continue to Kuwait. But they were reportedly still in Oman on Thursday morning.

The chance of a major breakthrough was missed during previous talks in the Swiss city of Biel last December, and the negotiations ended with nothing more than an agreement on prisoner exchange amid Saudi violations of a previous ceasefire.

SS