Cairo - A spokesman for Jordan’s Foreign Ministry said the country will host a round of UN-backed talks between the internationally recognised government of Yemen and Iran-allied Al Houthi militia, about a prisoner swap deal this week.
Sufian Al Qudah said Saturday that Jordan agreed to host the Yemenis at the UN’s request.
The prisoner exchange agreement was reached during talks in Sweden in December, an effort to end a war that has put Yemen on the brink of famine. Most other attempts have failed.
Yemen’s Saudi-backed government and Al Houthis agreed to the ceasefire and a redeployment of forces from Hodeida during UN-brokered talks in Sweden last month.
But deadlines for the pullback of forces and a prisoner swap have slipped, fuelling worries that the Stockholm agreement may be in jeopardy.
UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash met with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday to discuss problems in implementing the Stockholm deal.
“We understand that we need to exercise patience, but it can’t be infinite,” Gargash told reporters after this meeting.
Gargash raised concerns of a flareup on the ground, triggered by an Al Houthi provocation.
“We do not want to launch an offensive” in Hodeida, said the minister.
“What we want is for the UN and the international community to exert influence and to do that work” and create pressure on Al Houthis to comply with the ceasefire deal, he said.
The conflict in Yemen has triggered what the UN calls the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, with millions of people at risk of starvation.
