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1st LD Writethru: UN-led Yemen talks rescheduled to begin Monday

Xinhua, June 13, 2015 Adjust font size:

UN-led consultations on Yemen is rescheduled to begin Monday in Geneva, Switzerland, due to unforeseen circumstances, UN Spokesperson's Office announced Friday.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will attend the initial talks, said UN Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric, noting that the Geneva talks are the first consultations to involve the different sides of the Yemeni conflict since hostilities resumed.

"They mark an important step as the parties embark on the road towards a settlement," said Dujarric.

The UN hopes the consultations will help achieve a renewed humanitarian pause to allow humanitarian assistance to reach all Yemenis in need and agreement on ceasefires with the withdrawal of armed groups from cities, building a comprehensive and lasting ceasefire throughout the country.

The UN also expects, in the talks, the acknowledgment from the sides of the need for the resumption of a peaceful and orderly political transition, and for subsequent talks to include more representation from other political parties, women, youth and civil society.

"We hope the consultations will help create a new dynamic to build confidence between Yemeni actors and yield concrete benefits for the population, especially reduced violence and increased access to humanitarian aid and basic services," said Dujarric.

Sources said earlier this month that major Yemeni parties have agreed to attend an inclusive UN-led consultation possibly taking place in Geneva on June 14. But the UN Spokesperson Office said one of the Yemeni delegations will arrive in Geneva on Sunday evening, June 14 "due to unforeseen circumstances."

"Therefore, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, and his Special Envoy, Ismail Ould Chiekh Ahmed, will begin consultations with the Yemeni delegations on Monday morning, June 15, 2015," said a note from the office on change of plans.

Yemen has been mired in political gridlock since 2011 when mass protests forced former President Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down. Saleh and his key aides were granted immunity after he signed a Gulf-brokered power transfer deal that enabled his deputy Abd Rabou Mansour Hadi to win the presidential election as the only candidate. Mansour Hadi was inaugurated as president of Yemen in February 2012.

The Gulf countries have tried to push for comprehensive peace talks between all Yemeni parties since the Houthis seized control of Sana'a in September 2014 that forced President Abd Rabou Mansour Hadi to move his administration to Yemen's southern port city of Aden. Hadi reportedly fled Yemen as Houthi forces advanced on Aden on March 25.

Saudi Arabia, along with eight other Arab states, have been bombing Houthis and forces loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh since March 26, with the aim of reinstating Hadi's government. An estimated 1,297 civilians have been killed and 3, 227 others injured in Yemen as a result of the conflict between March 26 and June 7. Endite