Yemeni government negotiators said they were leaving peace talks in Kuwait on Monday after Houthi militia foes rejected a United Nations proposal aimed to ending their country’s war.
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U.N. Yemen envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed said the talks between the Houthis and their General People’s Congress party allies and the internationally-recognized government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi had been extended by a week.
The rebels would also have to surrender heavy weapons to a military committee formed by President Hadi and free isoners of war.
They did not name the council’s members.
A coalition assembled by Saudi Arabia launched an air campaign against the rebels in March 2015.
Its job will be to “manage state affairs politically, militarily, economically, administratively, socially and in security”, a statement said.
The statement further criticized the opposite side, representing the resigned president, Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi, for resorting to “media stunt” techniques in announcing that a draft settlement had been reached in the talks based on the United Nations proposal.
Worldwide ambassadors stationed in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, said they were concerned by the new alliance, calling it in a statement “not consistent with commitments and good faith in pursuing a peaceful resolution under the auspices of the U N” The UN had urged all parties to engage positively and effectively in the Kuwait talks in order to reach a sustainable solution quickly.
The rebels have “missed an opportunity for peace which the Yemeni people needed”, Mikhlafi said on his Twitter account.
They said they would stay in Kuwait for the talks.
“The Houthi and Saleh declaration today is a message to the world that they are not ready for peace and are not ready to spare Yemen more destruction”, Hadi’s deputy prime minister, Abdel-Aziz Al Jubari, told Dubai-based Al Hadath TV.
In February past year, they had set up a “Supreme Revolutionary Council” to run the country after they announced the dissolution of the government and parliament.
The Kuwait talks have failed to make any significant headway amid fundamental disputes over the agenda.
The main stumbling block at the talks in Kuwait has been the form of the government in Sanaa.
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Hadi’s government is backed by a US -assisted, Saudi-led military coalition that has been fighting the Shiite rebels, also known as the Houthis, and their allies since March 2015. However, the Houthis refused approving the proposal and have insisted on forming a national unity government, according to the media outlet.
