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Yemen talks to embark on new phase: UN envoy

Xinhua, June 30, 2016 Adjust font size:

The UN secretary-general's special envoy for Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, on Wednesday announced that the Yemeni peace talks would embark on a new phase for the next two weeks, a UN spokesman told reporters here.

"The special envoy said that after extensive discussions with the participants, the main principles that will guide the next phase of Yemeni talks had been established," Farhan Haq, the deputy UN spokesman, said at a daily news briefing here.

"These principles are based on the working papers submitted by the two delegations and the recommendations of the specialized committees," Haq said.

"The two delegations will use the coming two weeks to meet their respective leaderships and will then return to Kuwait on 15 July with practical recommendations on how to implement the necessary mechanisms that will enable them to sign a peace accord and end the conflict in Yemen," he said.

The special envoy will use the two-week period to meet with key Yemeni and regional political stakeholders to press for a comprehensive solution that will address the mechanisms discussed in the talks, which will ensure the security and stability of Yemen, he added.

On Sunday, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, expressing concern on the situation in Yemen, urged the delegations to prevent a further deterioration of the situation, and act with responsibility and flexibility to arrive at a comprehensive agreement ending the conflict.

On May 4, the UN-facilitated peace talks between Yemen's internationally recognized government and the Shiite Houthi group resumed after three-day suspension due to truce breaches in the country's northern provinces.

Delegates of Yemen's government decided three days earlier 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 ceasefire came into force on April 10 in the war-torn country 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 hopes of peace 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. Enditem