UN Secretary General Special Envoy to Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmad, announcing end of talks at a news conference earlier, expressed gratitude for Kuwait and His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah for hosting the negotiations and approving to extend them for a week when the original deadline expired.
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“We plan to hold the final session (of the talks) on Saturday”, the Mauritanian diplomat said in an interview on state-run Kuwait TV.
A handout picture released on August 1, 2016 by the Yemeni government delegation shows the head of the delegation, Foreign Minister Abdulmalek al-Mikhlafi (C) posing with his delegation as they wait at the global airport in Kuwait City prior to their departure after they attended the UN-brokered peace talks.
“We have guarantees and commitments from the two sides that they are ready to return to the negotiating table”, he said. He added that the participants had achieved bigger progress at the current talks than during the previous rounds.
Last week, the United Nations envoy presented a peace plan calling for the withdrawal of rebels from the capital and the handover of heavy arms.
The announcement of the council by the armed Houthi movement and the party of Yemen’s former president Ali Abdullah Saleh came as supporters of the internationally-recognised president, Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, battled to try to capture the capital Sanaa from the Iran-allied Houthis.
He said Kuwait has proven its keenness on peace and stability in Yemen.
Hours before Ould Cheikh Ahmed announced he was suspending the talks, the rebels named the 10 members to sit on the governing council, a move that also strengthens their control of Sanaa.
The Kuwait talks are officially scheduled to end later on Saturday.
The government delegation accepted the plan but the rebels rejected it, saying it is partial and they want a comprehensive settlement.
The Iran-backed Huthis overran Sanaa in late 2014 before moving into other parts of Yemen, prompting a Saudi-led coalition to intervene in March a year ago.
The fighting has also driven 2.8 million people from their homes and left more than 80 percent of the population needing humanitarian aid.
According to the Houthi-run Saba news agency, the two sides will rotate the position of the council’s president and vice president.
The draft plan called on the rebels to withdraw from territory they had occupied and give up heavy weapons seized from the army. Hadi’s side is backed by a Saudi-led, mostly Arab coalition.
Adan- Houthi rebels announced on Friday their intention to form a government in the capital Sana’a, which has been under their control since late 2014.
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“We have launched a military operation to regain what remains of Naham (province) and advance on Sanaa”, said military spokesman Mohsen Kasruf.
