Differences persist as Yemen peace talks enter fourth day

Kuwait: UN-brokered Yemeni peace talks in Kuwait entered a fourth day on Sunday with government and Al Houthi rebel delegations still far from reaching an agreement to end 13 months of war.

The delegations resumed “talks and started the plenary session,” Charbel Raji, spokesman for the UN envoy Esmail Ould Shaikh Ahmad, told AFP without providing further details.

Sources close to the talks said on Saturday that the two sides had failed to reach an understanding on the need to firm up a fragile ceasefire in place since April 11.

Ould Shaikh Ahmad acknowledged the negotiations were difficult but expressed hopes for progress.

“The atmosphere of the talks is promising and there is common ground to build on in order to reconcile differences,” the UN envoy said in a statement issued late on Saturday.

The delegates had agreed to appoint two officials, one from each side, to make recommendations on how to sustain the ceasefire, he added.

But the two sides differ on priorities for the ceasefire.

The government delegation said that the ceasefire should include opening safe passages to all besieged areas and releasing political prisoners as well as those abducted as part of confidence-building measures.

The Iran-backed Al Houthis are demanding an immediate halt to air strikes that a Saudi-led coalition has been carrying out since March 2015 in support of President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi.

The two sides also differ on the way to tackle other central issues.

The government wants the discussions to start with the issue of an Al Houthi pullout from areas including the capital Sana’a and relinquishing heavy arms and missiles.

The Al Houthis want the political process and the establishment of a national unity government to be first, sources close to the talks told AFP.

The negotiations in Kuwait opened late on Thursday after the delayed arrival of representatives of the Al Houthi militants and allied forces backing ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh.