UN envoy in Riyadh to discuss resumption of Yemen talks

By Zakaria Al-Kamali

SANAA (AA) - UN envoy to Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed arrived in Riyadh on Monday to discuss the planned resumption of peace talks later this week between Yemen’s warring factions, according to a Yemeni government source.

Late last month, UN-sponsored peace talks in Kuwait -- between the Yemeni government on one hand and the Shia Houthi group and its allies on the other -- were suspended for a two-week period.

While in Riyadh, Ould Cheikh will meet Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi and members of the government’s negotiating team, the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on talking to media, said.

According to the same source, the UN envoy will then visit Yemeni capital Sanaa on Wednesday where he will meet with representatives of the Houthi group and its allies.

- Pressure

On Sunday, President Hadi paid a surprise visit to Yemen’s eastern Maarib province, where he vowed to defeat the Houthi group, which until now remains in control of Sanaa.

Speaking in Maarib, Hadi claimed his government was under pressure to accept a UN-proposed "roadmap" calling for the formation of a unity government to include Houthi representatives.

The president went on to threaten to boycott the talks in Kuwait if the UN envoy insisted on implementing the roadmap.

"We won’t return to the talks in Kuwait if the UN tries to impose its proposal," he said.

Yemen has been racked by chaos since late 2014, when the Houthis and their allies overran capital Sanaa and other parts of the country, forcing 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.

Backed by Saudi-led coalition airstrikes, pro-Hadi forces have since managed to reclaim large swathes of the country’s south -- including provisional capital Aden -- but have failed to retake Sanaa and other strategic areas.

In April, the government and the Houthis entered into UN-sponsored peace talks in Kuwait aimed at resolving the conflict, in which more than 6,400 people have been killed and another 2.5 million forced to flee their home, according to UN figures.

Up until this point, however, the negotiations have largely failed to produce any serious breakthroughs.