Sana’a: Yemen’s government in exile said Friday that it would join UN-mediated peace talks next week, as Iran-backed rebels were accused of killing 20 civilians at a busy market.
Late on Thursday, UN special envoy for Yemen Esmail Ould Shaikh Ahmad said that the exiled government and the Iran-backed Al Houthi rebels had agreed to take part in peace talks that “will convene in the region next week”.
The Yemeni government confirmed in Riyadh on Friday that it had agreed to take part in UN-mediated peace talks next week in Oman.
Hadi’s government called on Ahmad to “strive for a clear, public commitment from Al Houthis” and allied forces to withdraw from areas they have seized, including the Yemeni capital.
Oman, the only Gulf Cooperation Council member not taking part in the coalition, had hosted talks between the rebels and a US delegation before a previous, failed round of UN-brokered negotiations took place in Geneva in June.
It is also the only GCC member which has always maintained good relations with Iran.
However, in the absence of an announcement from the rebels, Yemeni government spokesman Rajih Badi was unsure the rebels would attend.
The talks “may not take place”, he said.
The government of President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi insisted that a rebel pullback from areas seized since last year - as outlined by UN Resolution 2216 - remained a precondition for negotiations.
On Friday morning, powerful explosions hit the Al Hassaba neighbourhood of the rebel-held capital, where an arms depot was targeted by coalition war planes, witnesses said.
The Saudi-led coalition battling Al Houthis meanwhile sent new reinforcements over the border into Yemen in preparation for an offensive to retake the capital Sana’a.
The coalition sent more military vehicles and troops across the border into Yemen Friday to try to recapture more territory from the Al Houthis, who overran the capital a year ago and swept southwards across the impoverished country.
At least 40 coalition military vehicles cross over into Yemen’s oil-rich Marib province on Friday at the Wadia border post between Saudi Arabia and Yemen.
The vehicles were carrying Yemeni troops trained in Saudi Arabia as well as coalition troops whose nationality military officials in the area declined to specify.
