Yemen war rivals lash out as UN talks start

Talks between Yemen’s government and rebels, locked in a devastating war for nearly four years, open as tension remained high despite what the UN envoy has called a “critical opportunity.”

Yemen’s government and rebels are doubling down on their rival demands, just moments before hard-won consultations opened in Sweden under the auspices of the United Nations.

Yemeni Foreign Minister Khaled al-Yamani, who heads the Saudi-backed government’s delegation to the UN-sponsored talks in Sweden, tells AFP his team would follow through with a planned prisoner swap with the Houthi rebels — but refused to compromise on the flashpoint port city of Hodeida, home to Yemen’s most valuable port.

“The Houthi militias must withdraw from the city of Hodeida, and its port, and hand it over to the legitimate government, and specifically internal security forces,” Yamani says.

A Saudi-backed military coalition has for months led an offensive to retake Hodeida, the last rebel stronghold on Yemen’s Red Sea coast. The move has sparked fears for more than 150,000 civilians trapped in the city as even hospitals were seized by militants.

Hodeida is on the agenda at the talks, slated to run for one week. Not on the table are negotiations on a solution to the conflict between the Saudi-backed government of Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi and Yemen’s Houthi rebels, according to UN envoy Martin Griffiths.

— AFP