www.bizpodia.com/2016/03/yemen-combat-to-halt-april-10-week.htmlThe warring parties in Yemen have agreed to a cessation of hostilities starting at midnight on April 10 and peace talks in Kuwait beginning a week later, United Nations special envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed said on Wednesday.
People look at a hole caused by a Saudi-led air strike on a bridge in
Yemen's capital Sanaa March 23, 2016.REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
UNITED NATIONS: The warring parties in Yemen have agreed to a
cessation of hostilities starting at midnight on April 10 and peace
talks in Kuwait beginning a week later, United Nations special envoy
Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed said on Wednesday.
There have already been several failed attempts to defuse
the conflict in Yemen, which has drawn in regional foes Saudi Arabia and
Iran, and triggered a humanitarian crisis in the Arab world's poorest
country.
"This is really our last chance," Ould Cheikh Ahmed told reporters in New York. "The war in Yemen must be brought to an end."
A Saudi-led coalition began a military campaign in Yemen a
year ago with the aim of preventing Iran-allied Houthi rebels and forces
loyal to Yemen's ex-President Ali Abdullah Saleh from taking control of
the country.
The U.N. Security Council welcomed the announcement and
urged parties to the conflict to "immediately reduce violence and
refrain from any action that could lead to increased tensions, in order
to pave the way for a cessation of hostilities."
Ould Cheikh Ahmed said Saudi Arabia is "fully committed to
make sure that the next talks take place and particularly supports us
with regard to the cessation of hostilities."
The U.N. says more than 6,000 people, half of them
civilians, have been killed since the start of the Saudi-led military
intervention whose ultimate aim is to restore President Abd-Rabbu
Mansour Hadi to power.
U.S.-based rights group Human Rights Watch said on Wednesday that the
United States, Britain, France and others should suspend all weapons
sales to Saudi Arabia over what the group deemed unlawful air strikes.
The Saudi-led coalition has targeted civilians with air
strikes and some of the attacks could be crimes against humanity, U.N.
sanctions monitors told the Security Council in January.
Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, an affiliate of the
global Sunni Muslim militant organization, has also expanded its
foothold in the country as the government focuses on its battle with the
Houthi rebels.
Ould Cheikh Ahmed said prominent Yemeni figures would be
enlisted to cooperate with a de-escalation and coordination committee on
the cessation of hostilities and "to report on progress and security
incidents."
He said the peace talks would focus on five areas: a
withdrawal of militia and armed groups; a handover of heavy weaponry to
the state; interim security arrangements; restoration of state
institutions; and resumption of inclusive political dialogue.
(Additional reporting by Louis Charbonneau; Editing by James Dalgleish and Tom Brown)
- Reuters
Yemen combat to halt April 10, a week before peace talks - UN
Reviewed by Bizpodia
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