A UN envoy yesterday said Yemen’s warring parties were closer to agreement at peace talks in Kuwait as he headed to New York to brief the UN Security Council.
“We are moving towards a general understanding that encompasses the expectations and visions of the parties,” Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed said in a statement.
“The discussions have become more sensitive and delicate, bringing us closer to a comprehensive agreement,” he said.
Ould Cheikh Ahmed was yesterday to brief the UN Security Council in a closed session on the progress made in the peace talks, which began on April 21, but have been clouded by repeated walkouts by the government delegation.
Face-to-face meetings resumed on Monday for the first time in nearly a week after the latest government boycott.
Ould Cheikh Ahmed said discussions on Tuesday centered on “various military and security issues, including withdrawals and troop movements.”
“We are now working on overcoming various obstacles and addressing specific details of an implementation mechanism,” he said.
The apparent progress comes after Yemeni Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdulmalek al-Mikhlafi on Monday said the government stood ready to make concessions for the sake of peace.
A Western diplomat familiar with the talks said they had made important progress.
“We are in a stage where the parties have to make hard choices and compromises,” the diplomat told reporters, adding that he was “very optimistic” that a deal could be reached. “We have not seen this momentum towards peace in the past one-and-a-half years... A roadmap plan has been laid down ... and it has to work.”
The main sticking point in the talks has been the form of government to oversee a transition.
Houthi Shiite rebels and their allies have demanded a unity government.
The government delegation insists that the legitimacy of Yemeni President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi must be respected.
The government has also demanded that rebels implement a Security Council resolution from April last year demanding their withdrawal from the capital and other territory they have seized since 2014.
To overcome this problem, the UN envoy has proposed a “National Salvation Government,” the Western diplomat said.
The proposed government “would be formed on a consensual and inclusive basis and in accordance with the legal references, and would only replace the current government once Sana’a and key government institutions are not under the control of non-state actors,” he said.
Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdulsalam said that if no fair solution was reached, the rebels would form the government in Sana’a.
“Yemenis are awaiting a fair solution and if it fails, anti-aggression national forces must fill the vacuum by forming a government to serve the people and confront challenges,” Abdulsalam said on Twitter.
The rebel delegation met late on Tuesday with the US, British and EU ambassadors to Yemen.
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