Yemeni Foreign Minister Abdulmalek al-Mikhlafi, who is leading Hadi’s negotiating team, said he had sent a letter to the United Nations envoy informing him the government backed the “Kuwait Agreement”.
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He said he also proposed a “framework for a solution to the crisis in Yemen”, without elaborating.
Abdul-Malik al-Mekhlafi told reporters that his delegation is not quitting the talks and that his government has approved a United Nations -proposed deal.
The government’s announcement came just hours after the coalition said a Saudi army officer and six soldiers were killed in border clashes with Yemeni rebels on Saturday.
Ould Cheikh Ahmad was later expected to meet Acting Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah to acquaint him with developments of the Yemeni peace talks, and to discuss the proposal to extend negotiations.
While Hadi accepted the proposal, the Houthis dismissed the proposal as a non-starter but said they would stay in Kuwait for the talks. The warring sides had agreed on a ceasefire before the negotiations began although the Houthis have repeatedly accused Saudi Arabia, which backs Hadi through air strikes and ground operation in Yemen, of violating the truce agreement.
Yemen’s Shiite rebels have announced a formal alliance with the country’s ousted president and his onetime ruling party by forming a new political council to rule the country.
The UN plan provides the withdrawal of Houthis from Sanaa, as well as the Yemeni provinces of Taiz and Al Hudaydah and holding a political dialogue, which should start 45 days after the acceptance of the pact.
The deal would abolish a supreme political council set up by the Houthis and Saleh’s General People’s Congress to run the country, Abdulmalek al-Mikhlafi, Yemen’s Foreign Minister, said.
The job of the council will be to “manage state affairs politically, militarily, economically, administratively, socially and in security”, a statement said. Most of the discussions have focused on the type of transition government to run Yemen.
“The aim is to unify efforts to confront the aggression by Saudi Arabia and its allies”, the statement said in reference to the Riyadh-led Arab coalition that launched a military campaign against the rebels in March past year in support of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi.
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Meanwhile, a police officer was killed Saturday in Aden when a bomb planted in his vehicle in Yemen second city Aden blew up, a security official said.
