08 May 2016•Update: 09 May 2016
By Zakaria al-Kamali
KUWAIT CITY
UN-brokered peace talks in Kuwait have hit a snag after UN envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed suspended direct talks between the Yemeni government and the Shia Houthi militant group.
Talks were suspended on Saturday night after representatives of the two camps failed to implement an earlier agreement to form of three panels to discuss the political, security and humanitarian files, one high-ranking Yemeni government source told Anadolu Agency.
"We should have begun implementing the agreement, but the Houthis and [former president Ali Abdullah] Saleh have gone back on their word," the source, who spoke anonymously due to restrictions on talking to the media, said.
"They are refusing to implement the agreement and insisting on discussing marginal issues," the source added.
Other sources close to the negotiations told Anadolu Agency earlier that Houthi representatives at the talks were refusing to discuss the main items on the agenda.
"Instead, they insist on the need for the ‘invaders’ to leave southern Yemen," one source said, in reference to recent reports about U.S. forces being deployed in the country’s south to support the Yemeni army against Al-Qaeda militants.
According to the government source, the UN envoy was now expected to hold separate meetings with the two delegations.
"There has been no suggestion that either side intends to quit the talks," the source said.
Yemen has been racked by chaos and bloodshed since late 2014, when the Houthis and their allies overran capital Sanaa and other parts of the country, forcing President Abd Rabbuh Mansour 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.
According to UN figures, the ongoing conflict has led to the death of some 6,400 Yemenis to date and forced some 2.5 million to flee their homes.
