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UN-facilitated peace talks between Yemen's warring parties resume in Kuwait

Xinhua, May 4, 2016 Adjust font size:

UN-facilitated peace talks between Yemen's internationally recognized government and the Shiite Houthi group resumed on Wednesday after three-day suspension due to truce breaches in the country's northern provinces.

According to a short statement issued by the UN Special Envoy for Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh on Twitter "the two delegations started a joint session to discuss cementing the ceasefire.

A source close to Yemen's government told Xinhua that "great efforts exerted by high-ranking diplomats from the GCC countries including Kuwait have finally succeeded in bringing back both delegations to the table despite the chronic differences."

Delegates of Yemen's government decided on Sunday to suspend their participation in the Kuwait-based peace talks in protest at a Houthi assault on key military base in the northern province of Amran and seizing heavy weapons.

The cease-fire came into force on April 10 and was supposed to pave the way for the Kuwait peace talks, but both warring sides have complained of violations by each other, along with continuing heavy shelling and airstrikes.

The Houthi group and pro-former President Al Abdullah Saleh militias stormed the Yemeni capital Sanaa in September 2014, and forced Yemen's President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and his government to exile.

The Yemeni factions started a new round of UN-sponsored peace talks in Kuwait on April 21, raising hope after a year of armed conflicts that have led to catastrophic consequences.

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

The UN envoy to Yemen announced in press conferences in Kuwait that the talks are based on the UN Security Council resolution 2216 and the outcome 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-led military intervention in Yemen, which has so far claimed more than 6,400 lives, over half of them civilians, and displaced millions, according to UN statistics.

The crisis in Yemen started in 2011, when former President 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