Yemen air strikes ongoing despite peace talks

Efforts to bring Yemen’s warring factions together to discuss their conflict have made some progress, officials said yesterday, as warplanes from a Saudi-led coalition mounted more air strikes against the dominant Houthi group.

Tue, 02 Jun, 2015 - 01:00

Mohammed Ghobari

Neighbouring Oman is trying to end more than two months of fighting that has killed nearly 2,000 people by mediating talks between US officials and representatives of the Houthi group.

Political sources in Oman, Yemen’s eastern neighbour, confirmed that diplomats were brokering the talks between Houthi and US officials at a hotel in the capital Muscat aimed at finding a peaceful resolution to the conflict.

Independent politicians in the Yemeni capital Sanaa said that the talks have succeeded in narrowing gaps between the Houthis and the exiled government to pave the way for eventual UN-backed negotiations in Geneva.

“There’s progress in the talks toward an agreement on a long truce and reviving political dialogue,” one politician told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Oman is the only member of the six-country Gulf Co-operation Council not taking part in the campaign in Yemen, and has played a role as a peacemaker in the strife-torn region.

The UN envoy to Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, has also achieved progress in efforts to convene talks in Geneva, Yemeni government spokesman Rajeh Badi said.

He said progress was made on “the date, agenda and framework for the Geneva talks and the parties that attend the meeting” and that a formal announcement was expected within hours.

Ould Cheikh Ahmed was in the Saudi capital Riyadh for talks with Yemeni president Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, political figures and the government headed by vice president Khaled Bahah. Before that, he held talks with Houthi leaders in Sanaa.

Previous plans for talks in Switzerland were postponed due to objections by the Riyadh-based Yemeni government, which wants the Houthis to quit Yemen’s main cities and recognise Hadi’s authority before speaking to them.

An Arab alliance has been bombing the Houthis since late March in a bid to restore Hadi to power. The Sunni Muslim states see the Houthis as a proxy for the influence of archrival Iran in impoverished Yemen.