UN-brokered Yemen peace talks end with no deal

Yemen’s exiled government and Shiite rebels who control the capital failed to agree on even a temporary cease-fire Friday as they wrapped up U.N.-brokered talks aimed at ending a conflict that has killed over 1,000 civilians and displaced more than a million since March. The collapse of the talks came as Saudi-led airstrikes continued to pound the Iran-backed rebels, known as Houthis, and their allies, killing at least 10 civilians in a northern rebel stronghold, witnesses said. The U.N. meanwhile called for $1.6 billion to help millions of Yemenis avoid a “looming humanitarian catastrophe.”

I come out with a certain degree of optimism. It’s a matter of time.

U.N. envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed

The U.S. backs the Saudi-led coalition, which began launching airstrikes against the Houthis and their allies in March, but has made little progress in pushing the rebels back. The exiled government had demanded the implementation of a U.N. Security Council resolution requiring the rebels to withdraw from cities and towns, including the capital. The Houthis had called for a temporary cease-fire, but the government rejected it, saying the rebels had used a previous humanitarian pause to grab more land.

There is no doubt that there is ground for reaching a cease-fire accompanied by withdrawal. What is important is that we all remember that there is a miserable humanitarian situation in Yemen.

Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed

Middle East yemen