Houthis a no-show at Yemen talks; negotiations delayed

By Zakaria al-Kamali

SANA'A

UN-brokered negotiations aimed at resolving Yemen’s year-long conflict were postponed Monday after representatives of the Shia Houthi militant group failed to show up for scheduled talks in Kuwait.

"The Houthi delegation is still in Sana'a; it has not left for Kuwait," a Houthi source told Anadolu Agency on Monday.

According to the same source, the Houthis -- along with allied forces loyal to former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh -- want guarantees from the UN and a "clear agenda" for talks before going to Kuwait.

"They also want a total cessation of air raids by the [Saudi-led] Arab coalition and a consolidation of the cease-fire," the source said.

A UN-brokered cease-fire went into effect in Yemen on April 11.

A Yemeni government delegation led by Foreign Minister Abdulmalik al-Mekhlafi was in Kuwait on Monday to receive the anticipated Houthi delegation.

The UN’s envoy to Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, confirmed that the talks had been postponed and called on the Houthi delegation in Sana'a to come to Kuwait.

"Due to developments over the last few hours, the start of the Yemeni-Yemeni peace negotiations scheduled to begin today... will be delayed," he said in a statement.

"We are working to overcome the latest challenges and ask the delegations to show good faith [and] participate in the talks in order to reach a peaceful resolution to the crisis in Yemen," Ahmed said.

Yemen has remained in turmoil since September 2014, when the Houthis and their allies overran capital Sana'a and 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 air campaign in Yemen aimed at reversing Houthi gains and restoring Hadi’s embattled government.

According to the UN, more than 6,000 people have been killed in Yemen -- about half of them civilians -- since the Saudi-led coalition began its air campaign in the war-battered country.