Roundup: Faltering Yemen peace talks extended for one week

The Foreign Ministry of Kuwait announced Saturday that the UN-facilitated peace talks between Yemen's warring parties aimed at ending nearly 14 months of civil war have been extended for one week following a request by the UN special envoy.

According to a statement released by Kuwaiti official KUNA news agency, Kuwait, acting upon a UN request, extended the hosting of the Yemeni talks for another week to end on Aug. 7.

The agency said Kuwait agreed to extend its host of talks due to "positive developments" between negotiators over the past two weeks, at the end of which UN envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmad tabled a document including principles of a compromise.

Earlier in the day, Ould Cheikh Ahmed held meetings and asked Yemen's warring parties to continue peace consultations in Kuwait for another week after the government delegation said it was quitting talks with the Houthis.

The UN envoy said on Twitter that he is "grateful for the hospitality of H.H Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber al-Sabah, Emir of Kuwait and approving talks extension for another week."

"We hope that the delegations can utilize this remaining week to achieve progress on the path towards peace," he said.

Kuwait has been hosting the Yemeni talks for more than 90 days but no tangible breakthroughs were made to end the Yemeni conflict.

Sources close to Yemen's Foreign Minister Abdul-Malik Mekhlafi who heads the government delegation to the Kuwait-based confirmed their agreement to pursue talks with Houthis for another additional week.

Yemen's Saudi-backed government said Friday its participation in the UN-sponsored peace talks in Kuwait was over after Houthi rebels and political allies of ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh signed a deal to set up a power-sharing council to govern war-shattered Yemen.

The Houthi group and Saleh have refused to obey the UN Security Council Resolution 2216 that orders them to withdraw from the capital Sanaa and other cities, hand over weapons back to the legitimate government and end their rebellion.

Instead, they insist to form a joint presidential council and a transitional government and to be included in both leaderships.

Saudi Arabia has been leading a military coalition against the Houthis and Saleh's forces in Yemen since March 26, 2015, in support of the elected government of internationally recognized President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.

The Iranian-allied Houthis, who are based in the far north border province of Saada and backed by forces loyal to former President Saleh, stormed the capital Sanaa and forced President Hadi with his government into exile in 2014 over charges of corruption.

Controversial positions by the rebels and government triggered growing fears of new wave of intensified war.

The fears spread all over the streets of Yemeni cities from darkness of the looming war on the skies and grounds of the Yemeni cities, in which the Houthis and Saleh's fighters hold most of Yemen's northern half while government forces backed by Saudi-led military coalition share control of the rest of the country.

The civil war, ground battles and airstrikes have already killed more than 6,400 people, half of them civilians, injured more than 35,000 others and displaced over two millions, according to humanitarian agencies. Endit