By Zakaria al-Kamali
SANAA, Yemen (AA) – Officials from the Gulf States, along with UN envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, are intensely lobbying a Yemeni government delegation to resume Kuwait-hosted peace talks with the Shia Houthi group, a Yemeni government source said Tuesday.
The government delegation suspended its participation in the Kuwait talks “indefinitely” on Sunday, citing alleged ceasefire violations by the Houthis.
The government source, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to the media, told Anadolu Agency that Abdullatif bin Rashid al-Zayani, secretary-general of the Gulf Cooperation Council, had arrived in Kuwait to hear the government delegation’s conditions for returning to the negotiating table.
UN-brokered Yemen peace talks began on April 11 in Kuwait City following the announcement of a ceasefire.
The government delegation demands the immediate implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 2216, which calls on the Houthis to withdraw from Yemeni cities that they occupied earlier and to lay down their arms.
Yemen has been racked by chaos and bloodshed since late 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 Saudi-backed 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 led to the death of some 6,400 Yemenis to date and forced some 2.5 million to flee their homes.
