Yemen gov’t ‘resolved’ to build confidence with rebels

By Mohammed al-Samei

ADEN, Yemen

The Yemeni government on Wednesday vowed to take “positive steps” for building confidence during this week’s UN-brokered peace talks with Houthi rebels in Sweden.

“The government is resolved to make positive steps for building confidence during consultations in Sweden,” Foreign Minister Khalid al-Yamani said during a meeting in Riyadh with Omatu Essalam al-Haj, the head of the Mothers of Abductees Association, a Yemeni NGO.

Al-Yamani will head the Yemeni negotiating delegation during the peace talks, due to be held on Thursday, for ending the four-year conflict in Yemen.

Yemen has been wracked by violence since 2014, when the Houthi rebel group overran much of the country and the crisis escalated in 2015 when a Saudi-led coalition launched a devastating air campaign aimed at rolling back Houthi gains.

Tens of thousands of people, including civilians, are believed to have been killed and the UN estimates that around 14 million Yemenis are at risk of famine.