UN-sponsored Yemen peace talks start in Switzerland

Althawra Net

Peace talks between Yemen’s warring parties have begun under UN auspices at an undisclosed location in Switzerland, aimed at clinching a permanent ceasefire and a political transition, the world body said.

“The UN-sponsored consultations aimed at finding a durable solution to the Yemen crisis started today in Switzerland. These consultations seek to establish a permanent and comprehensive ceasefire, secure improvements to the humanitarian situation and a return to a peaceful and orderly political transition,” said a statement read out by UN spokesman Ahmad Fawzi to a news briefing in Geneva on Tuesday.

The war has killed at least 5,878 people since March, when the fighting escalated after the Saudi-led coalition that backs Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi’s government began launching airstrikes.

UN special envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, the mediator, urged both sides to ensure full respect for the cessation of hostilities that came into force on Tuesday, saying it should “mark the end of military violence in Yemen and the transition to progress based on negotiations, dialogue and consensus”.