A second round of negotiations between Yemen’s government and Houthi rebels could be hosted “soon” in Jordanian capital Amman, a rebel leader said yesterday after meeting the UN envoy.
Talks on Yemen’s failed economy “could take place soon in Amman or by video conference, which I discussed with the UN envoy”, Mohamed Ali al-Huthi, head of the rebel Higher Revolutionary Committee, said in Sanaa.
One month after hard-won peace talks on the Yemen conflict, the United Nations faces an uphill battle as it pushes to ensure the warring parties make good on a shaky truce deal.
UN envoy Martin Griffiths, who brokered the breakthrough last month in Sweden, returned to Yemen Saturday with a plan to expedite measures agreed between the government and Houthi rebels.
Key among them is the redeployment of rival forces from Hodeidah, the Red Sea port city crucial for aid and food imports.
Griffiths, scheduled to see Yemeni government officials in Saudi capital Riyadh after meeting the rebels, hopes to bring the warring sides together later this month to follow up on progress made at December’s talks.
The UN envoy held talks yesterday with Houthi chief Abdelmalik al-Huthi, spokesman Mohamed Abdelsalam said in a statement carried by rebel Al-Masira TV.
He said that the two addressed “preparations for the upcoming round of talks”. Rebel-held Hodeidah was for months the main front line in the Yemen war after government forces supported by Saudi Arabia and its allies launched an offensive to capture it in June.
But a precarious calm has held in the city since a ceasefire agreement came into force on December 18.
Under the deal, both the rebels and pro-government forces should withdraw from the area.
UN spokesman Farhan Haq on Thursday confirmed the cessation of hostilities continued to hold in Hodeidah, despite mutual accusations of violations by the rebels and Saudi-backed government.
Related Story