Yemeni talks to start Thursday in Sweden: Houthi leader

By Murad Erifi

SANAA (AA) – UN-brokered peace talks between the Houthi administration and the Yemeni government will start on Thursday in Sweden, a leading Houthi member said Tuesday.

Thursday is "the date for consultations till the moment unless some changes happen,” Hamid Asem told Anadolu Agency while getting ready at Sanaa International Airport for his flight en route to Sweden.

He voiced hope that the consultations will result in an understanding between the two sides provided that "Saudi Arabia and the U.S. would accept stopping the war".

Representatives of the internationally-recognized Yemeni government and Houthi rebels are set to meet in Stockholm for UN-sponsored talks aimed at ending the four-year conflict in the impoverished country.

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.