Yemen's warring parties agree to reopen Sanaa airport

Rimbo, Sweden: Sweden's Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom said the outcome of Yemen's peace consultations will be conveyed to the U.N. Security Council on Friday.

The consultations, which started last week near Stockholm, took place in "positive spirit and good faith", she said in a telephone interview with Reuters.

Yemen's warring parties agreed on Wednesday to reopen the airport in the Houthi-held capital, Sana'a, for domestic flights, one of the confidence-building steps under discussion at UN-led peace talks in Sweden, sources familiar with the talks said.

The Iran-aligned Houthi movement and the Saudi-backed government have agreed that international flights would stop at a government-held airport for inspections before flying in or out of Sana'a. They have yet to agree whether those inspections would take place in the airport of Aden or that of Sayun.

https://gulfnews.com/gulfnews/world/gulf/yemen/sanaa-airport-opening-discussed-at-yemen-talks-1.60806723Sana'a airport is in Houthi territory but access is restricted by a Saudi-led military coalition, which controls the air space.

Also, Yemeni government sources confirmed Wednesday that a mass prisoner swap with Al Houthis included Saudi soldiers fighting alongside state troops, as UN-brokered peace talks neared their end.

UN chief attending talks

United Nations Secretary-General will attend the last day of talks between the Yemeni government and Al Houthi militia in Sweden today, the world body said.

Antonio Guterres will participate in UN-brokered negotiations in the rural village of Rimbo, north of Stockholm. He will “hold meetings with the two delegations and will address the closing session of this round of consultations,” the UN said in a statement.

Britain's foreign secretary is joining the Yemen peace talks also on their final day in Sweden as part of his efforts to help kick start a political process to bring an end to the impoverished Arab country's brutal four-year civil war.

His office says Jeremy Hunt will be in the Swedish town of Rimbo along with U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Thursday, the final day of the U.N.-sponsored Yemen talks.

It says Hunt will also be meeting the delegates from the warring sides - the internationally recognized Yemeni government and the Houthi rebels.

Hunt said ahead of his trip that "Yemen is the world's worst humanitarian catastrophe, and these peace talks represent the best opportunity in years to move towards the political solution the people of Yemen urgently need."

In a positive development coming out of Yemen peace talks, a member of the government delegation said yesterday that the next round of negotiations between both sides could take place as early as January.

In Sweden, Marwan Dammaj, the culture minister in Yemen’s internationally recognised government, said the venue and the exact timing for the next round of UN-sponsored talks are still being considered.

“There has been discussion of another round soon, there are arrangements and such,” he said. “It’s been suggested that they take place in January, next month after the New Year holiday, but this not fully determined yet, it’s only preliminary.”

With 24 hours left before the scheduled close of the talks, mediators are pushing for a truce between warring parties as a crucial step to allow aid deliveries.

Also mediators are seeking a de-escalation of violence in two flashpoint cities: rebel-held Hodeida, a port city vital to the delivery of humanitarian aid, and Taiz, Yemen’s third largest city, scene of some of the most intense fighting in the war.

Both Yemeni parties at peace talks in Sweden have received four draft agreements and were expected to give their responses on Wednesday, a UN spokeswoman said.