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Update: 1st session of Yemen peace talks ends in agenda disputes

Xinhua, April 23, 2016 Adjust font size:

The first closed session of the UN-facilitated peace talks between Yemen's warring parties was ended Friday evening amid disputes on the previously agreed agenda for the Kuwait-hosted consultations, a Yemeni government official told Xinhua.

"Today's consultations were concluded but the two delegations are yet to make progress or agreements on the agenda and only the main focus was on the cease-fire issue," the Yemeni government official in Riyadh said on condition of anonymity.

The official said that representatives of the Shiite Houthi group and their ally former President Ali Abdullah Saleh demanded the UN envoy on Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed to change the agenda for the talks.

He added that the delegation of Yemen's internationally recognized government "refused to accept any changes about the agreed agendas for the Kuwait-based talks."

The Houthi-controlled Saba News Agency reported that the delegation of Houthis and their ally underlined the need to completely cease fire before entering into any discussions.

The agency said that the Houthis and their allied delegates "criticized the UN envoy's evasion of carrying out the cease-fire and his adoption of the other party's lies and allegations."

It added that Houthis negotiators expressed its full reservation about the five terms raised by the other party until their mechanisms and priorities become clear.

However, Ould Cheikh said during a press conference in Kuwait that Friday's meeting focused on the cease-fire file and there is a positive response from the warring parties.

"The discussions held today were promising and constructive and concluded amid positive atmosphere," he added. "We are closer to peace than ever."

Yemeni factions started a new round of UN-sponsored peace talks in Kuwait on Thursday, raising hope after a year of armed conflicts which have led to catastrophic consequences.

The previous two rounds were held in June and December of 2015, which failed to yield any progress.

The UN envoy to Yemen addressed the opening ceremony that the talks are based on the UNSC resolution 2216 and outcomes of previous talks in Geneva.

The resolution calls on the Houthi group to cede power to the internationally recognized government, disarm and withdraw from cities to establish permanent peace and resume the political process.

It is also hoped that the latest talks would end a Saudi Arabia-led military intervention, which have claimed more than 6,400 lives, over half being civilians, and displaced millions, according to UN statistics.

A latest cease-fire kicked off on April 10 and was supposed to pave the way for Monday's talks, but both warring sides have complained of violations by each other, along with continuing heavy shelling and air strikes.

The crisis in Yemen started in 2011, when former President Ali Abdullah Saleh was forced to step down from his 33-year rule, as part of a wave of protests and political turmoil that swept the whole Arab world. Endit