Yemen rebels to join delayed talks

Sanaa / AP

Yemen’s Houthi rebels and their allies have agreed to join delayed peace talks in Kuwait after the United Nations assured them that pro-government forces would abide by a ceasefire.
The UN-brokered talks were set to open in Kuwait on Monday but were put off after the Iran-backed insurgents failed to show up over alleged Saudi violations of the ceasefire, which took effect on April 11.
Kuwait’s information ministry said the talks—the most important attempt yet to resolve Yemen’s devastating conflict—would now open on Thursday.
A Saudi-led coalition launched air strikes in Yemen 13 months ago after the rebels, who had seized control of the capital Sanaa in 2014, advanced in other parts of the country.
President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi’s government fled to main southern city Aden but its members still spend most of their time in Riyadh.
The loyalists have managed since July to reclaim large parts of the south, including temporary capital Aden, but have failed to dislodge the Houthi rebels and their allies from Sanaa and other key areas.
On Tuesday UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon had urged Hadi’s government and the rebels to work with his envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed “so that talks can start without further delay”.
The rebels’ Al-Masirah television quoted Houthi representative Saleh Al-Sammad as saying they agreed to join the talks after receiving assurances from the UN envoy and ambassadors that the ceasefire would be respected by loyalist forces.
A Western diplomat in Kuwait said that representatives of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council sent a message to the rebels saying they “understand their fears” and urging them to “quickly join” the talks.
The rebels had been assured that the agenda for the talks would be “clear and tackle issues that could help achieve peaceful solutions,” said Mahdi Al Mashat, a representative of rebel leader Abdulmalik Al-Houthi.