Yemen warring factions expected to begin talks in Geneva on Monday
Yemeni political factions and former regime officials are expected to start UN-sponsored peace talks in Geneva on Monday, UN sources say.
UN spokesman Ahmad Fawzi told reporters in Geneva that representatives of both sides in the Yemeni conflict are expected to be in the Swiss city by Sunday night.
"We expect the parties to be here for what we call Geneva Consultations tomorrow," Fawzi said, adding that there would be "extremely intensive consultations day and night."
The UN official also urged all parties involved in the conflict to observe a renewed "humanitarian pause" due to Saudi Arabia's incessant airstrikes on the impoverished country.
Sources have confirmed Yemen’s fugitive former president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, will attend the meeting.
Meanwhile, a delegation representing Yemen’s Ansarullah movement left the capital, Sana’a for Geneva on board a UN plane on the eve of the peace negotiations.
The talks brokered by UN special envoy for Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed are aimed at securing a ceasefire, and stepping up the delivery of humanitarian aid to people in the war-torn country.
The UN said in a statement in early June that all Yemeni parties are urged “to engage in these consultations in good faith and without pre-conditions in the interest of all Yemeni people.”
The session was initially scheduled for May 28, however, it was postponed after Hadi refused to attend the negotiations.
The peace talks come as Ansarullah fighters and popular committees gained more ground in their anti-terror operations by retaking control of al-Hazm, the main city of Jawf province near the Saudi border, from al-Qaeda-linked militants on Sunday.
Yemen has been engulfed in crisis since Saudi Arabia launched military strikes against its southern neighbor on March 26 without a UN mandate. Saudi Arabia started its military campaign against the Ansarullah fighters in a bid to restore power to Hadi, a staunch ally of Riyadh.
According to the UN over 2,300 people have so far lost their lives during the conflict in Yemen. However the death toll released by local authorities puts it much higher at about 4,300.
JR/KA/SS
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