Sana’a: Iran-backed Al Houthi rebels and forces loyal to ousted president Ali Abdallah Saleh on Saturday appointed a council set up to govern Yemen, in a new blow to UN-mediated peace talks.
The announcement came as the United Nations prepared to suspend peace talks in Kuwait.
The rebel alliance announced the creation of the council on July 28, a move denounced by Yemen’s internationally recognised government.
UN envoy Esmail Ould Shaikh Ahmad said it would damage the talks and represented a “grave breach” of UN Security Council Resolution 2216.
The council includes 10 members, equally divided between Al Houthi and Saleh loyalists, according to a list published by the Al Houthi-controlled Saba news agency on Saturday.
They include Salah Al Sammad, head of the Al Houthis’ political wing, and Sadek Abu Ras, deputy head of Saleh’s party, the General People’s Congress.
Ould Shaikh Ahmad is expected to announce the suspension of the talks on Saturday in Kuwait, in the presence of rebel and government delegations.
The UN envoy told Kuwaiti TV on Thursday that he hopes to relaunch talks in the future.
The talks began on April 21 but broke down last month when the rebels rejected a UN peace plan, saying any settlement must include the formation of a unity government.
That amounts to an explicit demand for the removal of the internationally recognised president, Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi.
The Yemeni government had been ready to accept the UN plan, but its delegation left Kuwait on Monday until the rebels agree to the proposed accord.
The draft plan called on the rebels to withdraw from territories they had occupied and give up heavy weapons they had seized from the army.
The two sides would also exchange prisoners before the launch of political negotiations.
The plan was presented as the UN’s final proposal to resolve a conflict that has left at least 6,400 people dead and displaced 2.8 million.
Yemen has been in chaos since the Al Houthis entered Sana’a in September 2014.
Neighbouring Saudi Arabia formed an Arab coalition and launched a campaign of air strikes in March 2015 to push the rebels back.
Despite heavy bombing, Al Houthis still control the capital and much of northern Yemen.
