By Zakaria al-Kamali
KUWAIT CITY (AA) – A morning session of peace talks held in Kuwait between Yemen’s warring camps failed Monday due to the Shia Houthi militant group’s “rejection of the agenda for talks”, sources close to the negotiations told Anadolu Agency.
The sources, who insisted on anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to the media, said that UN envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed had “failed to bring the parties into direct consultations”.
According to the same sources, Ahmed first held a meeting with the Yemeni government delegation before holding a separate meeting with Houthi representatives.
The talks in Kuwait entered their fifth day on Monday in the absence of any substantial breakthroughs.
In a statement issued Sunday evening, Ahmed noted a “significant divergence of views” between the two warring parties.
“But there is consensus among all participants that peace must be restored in Yemen, which means it is possible to find a solution,” he said.
“There are only two choices,” the UN envoy added. “They [the two sides] can either continue the war or negotiate and make concessions to achieve peace.”
Yemen has suffered violence and chaos since September 2014, when the Houthis and their allies overran capital Sanaa and several other parts of the country, forcing President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi and his government to temporarily flee to Riyadh.
In March of last year, Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies launched a massive military campaign in Yemen aimed at reversing Houthi gains and restoring Hadi’s embattled government.
According to UN figures, the ongoing conflict has so far led to the death of some 6,400 Yemenis and forced some 2.5 million to flee their homes.
