Kuwait: Peace talks in Kuwait aimed at ending over a year of civil war and a Saudi-led intervention in Yemen will not begin on Monday as planned, officials from the warring sides said, amid objections over continued fighting despite an announced ceasefire.
Delegations representing Yemen’s Al Houthis and the party of ousted-president Ali Abdullah Saleh - Saudi Arabia’s main antagonists - have yet to depart the capital Sana’a.
A Saudi-led Arab coalition joined the war on March 26 of last year to back Yemen’s government after it was pushed into exile by Iran-backed Al Houthi militants and forces loyal to Saleh.
Previous UN talks in June and December failed to end the war that has killed about 6,200 people, about half of them civilians.
Fighting and air strikes persist on several battlefronts throughout the country, especially in the contested southwestern city of Taiz and the Nehm area east of the capital.
Two Yemeni officials from the country’s Saudi-backed government said the opposing delegations would likely arrive on Tuesday.
“Representatives from Saleh’s party and Al Houthis are looking for excuses to delay their arrival at a precise time, but it’s expected that they will arrive later in Kuwait on Tuesday,” one of the officials said.
